No Expectation of Privacy in the Internet Age

Here’s a puzzlement: I was looking through the published oeuvre of H.P. Lovecraft on Amazon.com on our iPad at home. Not logged in, because I only log in when on those rare occasions I’m ready to buy something.

The other day my wife shoots me an email. Her iPhone is getting emails from Amazon for Lovecraft books she might be interested in buying.

Hmm? How’d they make the connection?

Last name? Amazon account? IP address?

It’s almost as if some eldritch, odious and opprobrious hand from beyond space and time were reaching out ...

[Note: this post was almost titled, “The TCP/IP Protocol of Cthulhu” ...]