Is the issue ad targeting, or data collection? For me it's the latter. This is what Google thinks I like: http://imgur.com/a/g8Q7l http://imgur.com/a/g8Q7l - r

Is the issue ad targeting, or data collection? For me it's the latter. This is what Google thinks I like: http://imgur.com/a/g8Q7l http://imgur.com/a/g8Q7l - reasonably accurate, and I don't care if it's public or used for targeting non-intrusive ads. I like those topics, I buy things, go ahead and show me your products. My objection is over the data used to learn those interests. I don't want Google tracking my search and page views across the internet, I don't want my credit card company tracking my purchase history, and I certainly don't want my ISP/phone provider tracking my "metadata". I feel like this article glossed over that aspect. Google's "Ad Personalization" page controls what Google uses, not what it knows. In this age of state, corporate, and foreign surveillance/hacking, I'm far more concerned about the latter.