Removing the ability to opt-out of ad personalization based on your Reddit activity, except in select countries.
Reddit requires very little personal information, and we like it that way. Our advertisers instead rely on on-platform activity—what communities you join, leave, upvotes, downvotes, and other signals—to get an idea of what you might be interested in.
The vast majority of redditors will see no change to their ads on Reddit. For users who previously opted out of personalization based on Reddit activity, this change will not result in seeing more ads or sharing on-platform activity with advertisers. It does enable our models to better predict which ad may be most relevant to you.
edit: updated link to old.reddit.com
Targeted ads has become such a boogey man, that you all can no longer view these things rationally. There is nothing wrong with companies wanted to get their products advertized to the most likely customers and there is nothing inherently wrong with a platform using your activity to see what ads you are most likely interested in.
The potential issue with it, is your personal data leaking everywhere and being assimilated by questionable companies who could create a psychological profile of you, that knows you better than you know yourself.
If they truely only let companies target you, by presenting them an internally grouped collective of likely customers in which you happen to be included, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Same goes for the newest change in how chrome manages ads.
I feel like the issue is more nuanced than this scenario you’ve provided- there are legitimate concerns as to whether your personal data can be ethically handled by a chain of organizations and individuals that have no linkage to you and see you as nothing more than income. That’s aside from the fact that selling personal data raises moral concerns akin to those raised by the usage of DNA-testing services as they relate to things like healthcare coverage, and blood quantum in tribal nations- issues of not having control over who can and cannot access personal, private information that could potentially be used against you. Once that data is collected, it’s effectively impossible to control who has it.
These scenarios are also assuming that everyone handling your data is, at best, a neutral entity. If your personal data is collected and makes its way to someone who would like to steal your identity or otherwise cause you harm, that’s a really big problem.
If they aren’t above illegaly selling your data, then aren’t above illegaly collecting your data, even if you ticked a little “I do not consent” box. I fail to see, how this change can be anything but positive.