This isn't new, interesting or noval information. If you run whats app from the desktop app or from web.WhatsApp.com on you're browser on a PC then no shit they know your on your PC
Why does it matter if the people I'm chatting with know if in onnmy PC?
Mozilla Relay is also a good option
Something a union could solve...
Ok now that I've read your Edit:
Podcasts no longer have RSS feeds that simply link back to an mp3 file that you directly download. Any podcast that is running canned ads (not ad reads that the host reads) is using what's called Dynamic Ad Injection. This requires the podcaster to supply their distribution vendor with a key file that marks break points in the podcast that the system will use to slice the raw podcast file into parts, and then inject X number of ads into the break, and then reform the mp3 file for delivery. I imagine this can be done dynamically or as part of an automation that cranks out thousands of variations of the podcast file.
The reason this information is important is because it means that the PODCAST FEED itself is betraying you and your data. The feed is controlled by an ad delivery network, which works in partnership with the podcast, to inject dynamic ads based on demographic information the ad delivery network has, and they use metadata about your connection (such as IP address) to match you against a shadow portfolio of your data, or at least a pool of data that hits your demographic.
Now, one other thing here that is betraying you, is your flatmates. It doesn't matter how much you protect yourself, because you are likely connected to your wifi, along with the other flatmates, and they're likely not taking the same measures as you are to ensure anonymity online. So you could have received that ad not because of data collected about you, but because of data collected about everyone who uses your ISP-provided address to connect to the internet, even if they're not listening to this specific podcast.
A VPN can mitigate most of that, as well as using a FOSS Podcast reader like you are. But if you have to listen to the podcast through Spotify, it's still moot because the IP addresses you get via the VPN will become attached to your data profile from Spotify, which will then find its way back into the existing data on you which includes your apartment's IP address.
The reality is Podcasts are big businesses and all the feeds for all the popular podcasts are owned by ad networks that collect data on listeners and then pair that data up with other data they collect from data brokers.
Spotify has podcasts, but I don't use it for that, so when I read "analyzes the RSS feeds I subscribe to" I imagine they're talking about through Spotify since that is the root of the conversation.
If you use Spotify as your podcast app, a VPN isn't going to protect you. You should look for a FOSS Podcast app, especially if you subscribe to most of your podcasts via RSS.
Then the VPN layer would kick in, allowing you to download them anonymously.
Now we understand what the "National Security Threat" was all this time, not that it wasn't painfully obvious from the jump. Every other major social media platform is in bed with the Feds, giving them access to whatever they wish at a moment's notice. The "threat" to the nation isn't foreign influence it's domestic influence. If they can't have backend access to the system to monitor these domestic threats, then the whole system is a threat. If you are using TikTok as a means of ORGANIZING then you are a THREAT to the NATIONAL SECURITY because the Feds can't WATCH YOU LIKE A HAWK.
At one point, TikTok reportedly altered language that would have allowed government officials to demand changes to the apps recommendations algorithm if it promoted content the agencies disagreed with.
But but but... MUH FREEZ PEACH!
Close to half of American adults eat propaganda for breakfast.
Then replace woodworking with abortion and you no longer need to imagine it happening, you can watch it live in 4K.
It was free
I think there is an assumption that is rooted in how reddit worked, that votes are anonymous. People operating under that assumption might not like having that blanket ripped off. It would be different if it was up front from the start.