You ever wonder why you get ads on a product you were just talking about? I found out the hard way.
Second half of my senior year, I had a pre college program. Many colleges had come to set up their stands in our culture hall for student to apply to. Since my family wasn’t well off, I decided not to apply to any colleges. My best friends had finally made up their mind on which universities they wanted to attend. Final day of the program my batch receives a brochure. “Associate’s Degree In Client Psychology” it said, but what caught my eye was the phrase “Major Financial Aid and immediate placements for eligible candidates!” I didn’t have a set goal at the time so I decided to give this a shot. The brochure directed me to a stall in our cultural hall which was not as crowded as the previous day. I walked up to the Red and White stall which had the similar XXXXX University brochures pasted all over it.
”Hi, I’m Brie! Is this the XXXXX University booth?” I asked as I peered into the booth.
Two middle aged men stood up from their chairs, “Yes this is the XXXXX university booth! Would you like an application form?”
“Yes! Um, before that I would like to ask what financial aid is the university providing?”
“Oh, the university provides up to 85% aid for students who do not have enough finances but you would have to submit proof of income to the university though. The students receiving aid also are given priority during placements as well, which means you attend interviews before regular students.”
I would be a fool to not apply, given my family’s situation. I wanted to help my dad out as fast could, his workshop alone couldn’t run the household. Things went surprisingly smooth after that. As soon as I submitted the documents and my letter of interest, I received an email saying I was accepted. I remember my family throwing a party even though I warned them it was a waste of money. I had never seen my dad cry before that night. I knew he had a rougher childhood but I think he felt relieved that his daughter was not going to fix cars for a living. I remember being happy.
The orientation went well and I was introduced to my classmates and lecturers. I knew this place was previously reserved to group of high status people. Even though a small establishment, everything from computers, accommodation, amenities and classrooms were top notch. They gave us freshmen a new laptop and a phone. I never had so many costly things in my life. This felt like a dream until it turned into a nightmare.
The first semester was weird. It was as if I was being watched constantly. I couldn’t make any friends as none would stay in touch. If I started a conversation, they would respond but there would be no follow up after. I felt abandoned but under constant scrutiny. Things started to change when I started regularly talking to my old friends recently. If we talked about a movie, I would hear my classmate talk about that movie and If I called my father and asked how his Chevy restoration was going, oddly enough my male classmates talk about the old chevy classics that they liked. At first I thought this was just a weird coincidence, since the things I talked about were general in nature. The final straw was when I searched for a new brand of cosmetics as I wanted to try something new. The girls beside me ranted all lecture about XXXXXX cosmetics and how they were the best compared to XXXXX, which was the one I was switching from. My heart raced as soon as I heard them and I could not stop looking behind me to see If someone was staring at me or stalking me. I left the lecture hall mid class.
As I rushed back to my dorm and shut the door, I heard a knock. It was the girl next door, Millie but I didn’t open the door.
“Are you okay Brie? You seem freaked out.”
“No.. I’m okay Millie, I’m just …”
“No worries Brie, your roommate Tina said she has some medicines under the mattress for you. She called me me to check on you.”
“Oh.. okay I’ll check. Thank you!”
“No problem!”
I tried to calm down as my breathing became shallower by the minute. I knew something was off because on how fast Millie had come to my door to offer some medicines. I checked under Tina’s mattress to find some medicines. I decided not to take them. I just wanted to go home now, this was too much for me. I packed my belongings and put it in my car’s trunk and drove home as fast as I could. Finally I felt relieved as I felt no one was watching me anymore. I explain what happened to my dad and he understood.
“People like us don’t belong in places like those anyways.” He said as I cried on his shoulder in an embrace.
That night I decided to research what was going on with me. I felt as If I was going crazy and everything was actually fine. As I google searched the entire night I found earlier. The woman who posted about the university on Facebook (Laura) was a recent dropout as well. I decided to talk to her. Two days after sending her a message she finally replied.
“Hi Brie, you said you recently dropped out as well?”
“Yes, I dropped out because it felt as if someone was watching me, or maybe it was everyone.”
“Yes Brie! It was everyone watching you! The XXXXXX university lures financially poor people into their program to enhance their “real” student’s learning and practical experience. The university educates their actual students in learning about a specific person (i.e. you) and their interests, This will later help them land prominent jobs with huge companies to help them with targeted advertisement.”
“So was I a lab rat to them?”
“They wanted the students to learn more about you and they probably have assignments on you!”
“But why?”
“It’s like a practical assignment for them.They do this to help those student learn behavior. This is required for them to land jobs in companies and malicious government agencies as well. Why do you think Chinese phones are cheap? Why do think google throws ads about something you talked about with your family or friends. In my case I’ve seen my YouTube recommend videos in my own language which is Spanish as soon as I was done conversing with my Mom. These are the types of things big companies want for more ads and sales for more money. Nothing is private in this world anymore when they have degrees to professionally break privacy.”
My heart dropped. I was still using their laptop and phone and I had to throw them away. I’m using my old phone right now and I don’t know what to do. I already talked to my parents and they think I’m just paranoid. Laura said she can arrange a place but I don’t think my parents will allow it. Nor do I fully trust her.
I might have dug myself a grave. It’s a matter of time before someone silences me or I figure out that it’s just me being paranoid. But are you sure that your life is private? Because I don’t think so.