>How's this any different than going around and filling out fake credit applications to stop "uninvited data collection" by banks/credit bureaus or whatever?

It's so different that it can't even be compared. There's nothing similar there.

>>The intent is convenience and privacy, not fraud.

> You're still harming the business, so my guess would be something like tortious interference.

No, you're not harming the business. You're simply not following the business idea of the "business". Anyone can have a business idea of some type. Not a single person on earth has any obligation to fulfill that business idea. But somehow some people believe the opposite.

In a credit application there is a signature and binding contract. If I fill in false information knowingly, the intent is clear and written.

If you send me an unsolicited mailer with a microchip that tracks my eyes and face as I read it, you’ve already pushed too far. To then claim my using a robot to read it for me is fraud ignores the invasion of privacy you’ve already instituted without my express consent (digital ads are this).

It’s not fraud if it’s self-defense from corporate overreach.

I don't think the question was about whether this would actually help the advertisers. (I suspect it was rhetorical.) Of course the defense will now be harder to execute for anyone who reads this thread.