The Observer's claim of caring about privacy is contradicted by its sharing of personal data with 161 partners. This practice is compared to being followed by numerous individuals after buying a newspaper, highlighting the extent of surveillance. Including 161 third-party trackers on a website and then stating "We Care About Your Privacy" is described as dystopian. The author likens this to inflicting harm while professing concern, creating an offensive irony. The article refers back to a 2020 piece emphasizing that online privacy should mirror real-world privacy. It uses an analogy of a stranger approaching someone with a sunscreen offer immediately after they visited a drugstore without buying. This scenario is intended to illustrate the "creepiness" of online tracking, invoking a fight-or-flight response. The analogy is further extended to point out that real-world tracking would be even more intrusive. It would persist even after a purchase, leading to annoying and redundant offers. The author suggests that current online tracking methods are both creepy and often nonsensically persistent.