Consider this: the vast majority of people you targeted more than likely didn't understand the terms of the deal (buried in ToS, hidden behind flowery language like "personalization", didn't understand the scope of such cookies, etc).
That is not informed consent.
What you were doing was exploiting people by going beyond the scope of their knowledge of the world and rationalizing it by working backwards from "well, they must understand what's going on" to "they must like it or get something out of it."
Problem is that's not true.
The reality is, even today barely any of them likely have the faintest clue what you did to them.
If they knew they would likely be far less than thrilled.
That is not informed consent.
What you were doing was exploiting people by going beyond the scope of their knowledge of the world and rationalizing it by working backwards from "well, they must understand what's going on" to "they must like it or get something out of it."
Problem is that's not true.
The reality is, even today barely any of them likely have the faintest clue what you did to them.
If they knew they would likely be far less than thrilled.
~ another ex-adtech worker