Picture the scene, you’re at home on a Friday night eating a baked potato packed with beans and some leftover lentils you found in the fridge, and you think – you know what this meal needs? Some cheddar cheese.
You’re messaging the group chat about your upcoming Amsterdam trip anyway, so you type ‘ugh just sat down with a baked potato and I’ve got no cheddar cheese to go with it!’, hit send, and open up the Facebook app out of habit to see who’s engaged/had a baby/is posting holiday pics and what do you see?
An advert for mature cheddar cheese from Tesco, right next to another one for reduced Amsterdam flights.
Scary right? Well this could be the creepy future of personalised ads if Facebook gets its way.
READ MORE: The Best Original Tinder Opening Lines
Debrief Original Tinder Opening Lines
1 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
So lazy, it's almost funny
2 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Sometimes you just need cheese (and fruit)
3 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Get right to the point
4 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
3,000 gentleman points for you
5 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Everyone loves a realist
6 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Such a forward-thinker
7 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Well played
8 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
They sound like a champ
9 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Genuine fear at the thought of losing you? Quite sweet, actually
10 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
They clearly want to make it work
11 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Yes. Just yes
12 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Great taste in music
13 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Mexican food does scream romance
14 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Another Tinder artist shows us how its done
15 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
It's good to be prepared for all possible scenarios
16 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Quite cute tbh
17 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
A* for effort
18 of 18Original Tinder Opening Lines
Props for committing to this pick up line
Back in 2016 Facebook announced that it planned to use the data from apps like WhatsApp to give ‘better friend suggestions and show more relevant ads,’ according to the BBC.
But the UK’s information commissioner has banned this, saying that it would breach data protection laws.
And there's more good news, another law is coming into effect on May 25 2018 which will give all users the right to know exactly what data Facebook has about them.
Facebook has been gathering information about us already from people we’ve friended on the site, but it has said it will obey the new law when it comes in.
We should at least know what data Facebook has on us, and be able to opt in or out of their data gathering. Even if we can’t stop Facebook’s shady practices, we can protect our own privacy and personal data.
Follow Phoebe on Twitter @PhoebeParke
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.