I keep getting an advert coming up for t-shirts and sweatshirts on Facebook, with a slogan based upon my old surname of 20 years ago.

I am 41 now and at 22 i changed my surname from my fathers back to my mothers maiden name having not had any contact with him for years. Seemed to make more sense.

But how does the targeted advertising on Facebook know what my old surname was 20 years ago? I changed it by deedpoll and haven’t used that surname in any context for a long time.

Jimmy Adidas?…. is that you?

Got any connections on Facebook to your father/his family? Been on ancestry.com doing some research?

It knows what underpants you are wearing too, and that they have holes in.

Even after Snowdon and Wikileaks, you’re not clear on how the data about you is being collected? Here’s a list of stuff that FB just flat out asks people…

Name
City of birth
City of residence
Phone
Email
Current employment
Previous employment
Relationship
Anniversary
Previous relationships
Previous names (aliases)
Screen names
Address book
Family members
Birthday
Religious views
Address
Website
Email address(s)
Sexual preference
Gender
Languages spoken
Political views
Friends
Books you’ve read
Bands you like
Movies you’ve seen
TV Shows you watch
Video games you play
Food you eat
Your Favorite Athletes
Restaurants you’ve eaten at
Activities you participate in
Websites you visit
Sports teams you support
Your Favorite Sports
Inspirational people
Favorite Clothing brands
Places you’ve visited
Events you’ve attended
Events you plan on attending
Events your friends are attending
Major life events (location, dates, who with)
Photos
Pokes
Wall posts
Private (haha yeah right) messages
Groups you’ve joined
Networks you are a part of

….still not sure how they know..?

Here’s a list of stuff that FB just flat out asks people…

It asks you – it doesn’t mean you’ve answered all those questions

I’d imagine the most likely explanation is people can organise their friends list and mark someone as a family member. If the OP has a relation (or more than one) on FB who have the name he used to use – and have marked him as a family member – then FB will have made the link that way.

perchypanther – Member
Jimmy Adidas?…. is that you?

Brilliant. Glad I wasn’t drinking anything when I read this. 😀