I wish tech companies knew more about me

The central complaint is that technology companies collect and trade extensive personal data yet often fail to use it to understand people in practical ways. Ads for items already purchased and years of skipping vocal electronic music show how systems miss obvious patterns. Meanwhile, location-based settings override the writer’s English preferences, and travel to Germany triggers assumptions about speaking German. Advertising and recommendations are just as poorly targeted: they include services that do not deliver to Finland, industrial resin despite no 3D printer, business marketing tools, a local hotel with no recent search for one, and even an asphalt-cleaning tractor. Clicking one irrelevant ad only brings more ads in the same category.

Other examples show companies mistaking a one-time need for a lasting interest or ignoring information they already have. A search for installation instructions for one oven leads to recommendations about ovens generally, rather than recognizing a specific, possibly temporary task. The writer’s bank offers car insurance already held there, an airline sends visa guidance inconsistent with the passport it has on file, and Netflix repeatedly asks the sole account user to choose a profile. Promotions for children’s products go to someone without children, while HBO suggests shows that lack usable English subtitles. The point is not that tracking is imaginary, but that the data collected seems poorly applied: companies should use what they know to make services and recommendations genuinely relevant.