You are absolutely correct.
Just one case in point.
Recently, my youngest son was asked about some things he may like for Christmas.
One of the answers was a microphone for his computer so he can talk to his gaming buddies.
He currently has a microphone, but the cord is messed up so it only works intermittently.
Anyway, long story short, we make him keep his mic unplugged from the computer when he's not using it because of the bad wire, so the computer was not hooked to the mic.
Within an hour, he was getting emails and offers in the pop up windows that show up on certain websites for microphones.
And this on a computer tower that supposedly has no internal microphone.
Tell me what the odds of that happening are? I would get struck by lightning twice after winning the powerball for that to have been coincidental.
FWIW, I have no mic on my computer, I do not have social media accounts. This is as close as it gets. And I'm sure my posts are being monitored as a potential threat to someone somewhere anyway just trying to mine as much data as they can.
I have switched to an offshore secure email provider. I do not use any of my personal identifying information on websites like google and youtube and others. I always use the wrong birthdate and the same first and last name as I do on this forum. I never fully spell it out publically in their registration.
I am not a threat to anyone and I don't even have anything to hide. I just like my privacy and don't want my identity stolen, but you don't have to be a monster to be painted as one and it's far too easy to convince mindless sheep that you are in 140 characters or less.