Kim Komando!-----Your digital trail Even if Linda never searched online for knives, her smartphone was busy collecting data. Your phone tracks your location, not just through GPS but also Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals.

“I was shopping yesterday at Walmart, looking at kitchen knives. I called my friend and told her where I was in the store. I didn’t buy the knives. Today, I received an email advertising the very knives I was looking at! How did that happen? I never looked knives up online.” 

• Even if Linda never searched online for knives, her smartphone was busy collecting data. Your phone tracks your location, not just through GPS but also Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals.
• If you’ve connected to a store’s Wi-Fi or walked in with Bluetooth on, Walmart and other retailers can track your movements. They know where you’re standing in the store. They also know you didn’t buy the knives.

Retailers sell this data to ad networks that then work with data brokers to get your email address. Bingo. Linda got an email from the knife company. I bet she starts seeing ads for knives and related items online, too.
But wait, there’s more

• Facebook, Instagram, Google and weather apps track your location, even when running in the background. If you’ve granted them location access, they know where you are and later use that data to serve you ads.
• Throw AI into the mix...