I think, privacy, spam and ads-in-general are related but distinct concepts that don't necessarily involve each other (although more likely to be so than not, when it comes to real-life situations).

Ads are about what's being sent from publisher to consumer. It can be solicited, unsolicited or something in-between. And privacy is about what's being sent in the very opposite direction.

I think a lot of publishers seem uninterested in untargeted advertisements though, so the distinction -- while existing in principal -- is not very relevant in practice.

Certainly the untargeted adds I see (or even those I can tell are by virtue of the place I am, instead of my own customer profile, seem much lower quality.