This is a slippery slope argument, and by itself is just a restatement of your belief that ads are bad. I don't think there's any plausible path from building ads and product recommendations to gulags. Maybe if we go another 20 years without anything like that happening anywhere in the world you'll be convinced?
See also: newspaper, radio, television, cable television, internet, mobile
There's been an unceasing procession of potentially-abused technologies in modern times, and we've more or less managed to thread the needle.
Instead of pessimism, I'd encourage people to engage in advocacy groups for their desired outcome!
> None of that is anything like what I was responding to, a system of forced labor camps
I saw stories from the US about debtor prisons and about for-pay prisons with very questionable tactics used to fill them, people who cannot fight back because they have no money, often don't ever get an actual date in court but are forced to submit to accepting a sentence because the prosecutor threatens them with trying to get an outrageous sentence should they actually want a real judgement.
https://www.aclu.org/news/criminal-law-reform/coercive-plea-...
It's old: https://elibrary.law.psu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&ht...
I think your opinion on what is possible in the US justice system depends on where you are, i.e. location, as well as in the social hierarchy.