Smartphone listening?

Logo

I'm sure that After Hours is probably not the right forum for posting this question but here goes. I've heard of people talking about a topic and a product advert pops up on their phone shortly afterwards. I'm not sure if this is a common occurrence but it's happened to me twice in the last week. It seems a bit more than coincidence so maybe I need to change some phone settings. I'd appreciate any feedback from anyone with similar experiences. Thanks

NiceFella

One of my mates was telling me about his friend who got a procedure for male pattern baldness in Turkey.

For a few days after I was getting ads for hair transplants etc. I have a full head of hair with 0% chance of going bald.

It is weird alright and I don't think you can turn it off.

NIMAN

Yip, it is happening, whether they say it is or not.

Couple of years ago, a group of 5 or 6 of us were standing around chatting at work about a guys new camper. Conversation lasted maybe 5mins or so. Next time one of us went to their PC and checked Gumtree, the adverts along the banner at top of screen were for camper vans for sale. No-one in the group had previously been searching for campers.

And lately my phone is starting to ask me to leave reviews, which it never did before.

In the last 2 days I have been at the barbers and McDonalds. Today i was asked if I wanted to leave a review for both of them.

Really is a big brother world we live in.

riclad

if you are worried about your phone privacy, turn off location, in settings, turn off data when you are not using the web browser, mapping apps, this also saves on battery power .you can press data icon, location icon, on off,

Sir Galahad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119254805#Comment_119254805

Daughter is a techy and explained it to me. If your mate was telling you about his friend that had the procedure thenit's very likely your mate had looked up hair transplants on his own phone. Then you are in his company and your phones communicate with each other and you get ads related to his searches etc.

NIMAN

Why would you get ads for searches someone else carried out.

Could be embarrassing!

Ubbquittious

Back when boards went down this fella called to the house and I went on a political rant, as with boards being down I had no outlet for my political rant

The rant was something to the effect of "The Chinese will come in and buy up all the good stuff here, houses, land, successful companies while they keep taking money off us by selling us disposable sh1t".

No sooner did I utter the words and I got a text from a +86 number "Hello . My aunt asked me to add you and said you found a house I like". I asked where was the house, she says back "Are you not the estate agent"

Could be coincidence. But freaked me out none the less

policarp

Voice command.

Alexa . Bixby, Ciri Etc.

Sir Galahad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119254867#Comment_119254867

I'm only saying what I was told. She's an ecommerce digital specialist for a multinational company.

Count Dracula

All phones have voice recognition technology. You can speak your search and up it comes in google.... go figure. Edward Snowden blew the whistle on this kind of stuff 10 years ago. It is real.

Every photo, video or other piece of multimedia you enter on your phone or other device is accessible. Satellites can pinpoint were you are, right now, at this very instant as you read this, within centimetres. They know what porn you watch, who you hang around with, what you eat, sleep, listen to, wear, buy, phuck, beg, borrow or steal.

Sponsored agencies are developing your profile all the time based on your online activity.

The age of privacy and autonomy on the web or otherwise is totally over. I just got moved to Defcon 2 for typing the last couple of paragraphs.

Get used to it.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119254892#Comment_119254892

I can see maybe why they would want it to happen.

I chat to my mate about a new TV I'm getting. I've been searching for them on my phone.

Now he starts getting adverts for new tvs, and maybe he gets a notion that his needs upgraded too?? Who knows.

Buddy Bubs

Next time you download an app look for the permissions it asks for. One of these may be microphone, that's where you are giving permission to listen

Logo

Thanks for the replies. I can understand why ads might pop up after searching for a product but it's a bit harder to swallow when private conversations are listened to. Although it's difficult not to just 'Accept All' when searching on-line.

fritzelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119254941#Comment_119254941

Exactly this - so many apps ask for permissions for stuff they have no need to have access to

bazz26

It's just The Illuminati keeping an eye on you. Nothing to worry about.

StupidLikeAFox

I was having a WhatsApp conversation and the other guy posted a picture of a jacket into the chat - logged on to Facebook around an hour later and started getting ads for the same jacket. Privacy is dead alright

kippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119255263#Comment_119255263

I'm sure all within the ts and C's of using the apps I'd suggest. There are possibly ways to turn the feature off or not use the app at all.

AllForIt

They're not called smartphones for nothing you know.

dontmindme

Phones are listening and any online activity what ever device it's on is leaving tracking cookies and gathering information about all your devices, locations, places you like to go, things you like to buy, other sites you view, etc etc. I absolutely have never clicked on 'Accept all' and if it's not easy enough to just select the essential cookies then I just don't bother with that website.

would have been a CT just a few years ago - a clown world we live in..

heard recently (y'day I think) about some sort of shenanigans the Chinese Co. Huawei were up to - spying and t'likes (some inbuilt spyware or somesuch) but likely they're [smartphone companies] all at it 😒

better off with just a Nokia (if they're still being made) 🤣 can't listen to any choons on it tho, or surf web

StupidLikeAFox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119255268#Comment_119255268

No doubt its probably buried in there somewhere alright. It does make you think about what is happening in the background if these are the bits of "spying" that are obvious. How you are subtly being influenced etc

NIMAN

I don't think there is some great conspiracy to know where we are, or what we are doing, but I do believe that it's all being done to get us to spend our money.

It's targeted marketing.

Signore Fancy Pants

Lads, everywhere you go, everything you search for, every picture you take, everything you text, everything you receive, is all recorded/accessible somewhere.

Proximity to other IMEI/WIFI/GPS/I.P/bluetooth can be exploited and targeted for ads...never mind anything else.

If you have a your email account logged on, on multiple devices at the same time (in work, on the laptop at home, hooked up to free public wifi, on your tablet, smart tv, smart watch and your mobile) its all gathering data from the different locations. Worse if you are logged into a social media account.

Everytime you land in a new country and turn on your phone, your IMEI is captured on the local networks.

DuckDuckGo isn't even as secure as it once was. Voice messages, facial ID, algorithms and metrics, Google maps etc. Doesn't matter if you don't accept permissions. Don't be fooled into believing it, same with data encryption. Jesus even household white goods with smart features.

The only way to avoid it, is to take unreasonable measures. But there's absolutely zero point in trying unless you are 5 and don't have digital footprint.

Its just easier to believe that when you say "no" when setting up your device, you are grand.

If you really want to go into the weeds, just remember, China knows you better than your family does.

Ubbquittious

You remember that big massive datacentre that Snowden spilled the beans on in 2013/4?

Well they still built it to completion, it's operational now, happily spying away on 100s of millions of people. And people still turn out in droves to vote for the c*nts who put it there.

Bobblehats

Smartphone glistening ✨ yea new phone envy or what

Glaceon

The creepiest one I experienced was when I went to visit my parents and my dad was talking to me about rewiring the house. Within a half hour I was getting ads for electrical contractors offering rewiring services. I never looked that up myself and my dad didn't own a smartphone at the time.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119256102#Comment_119256102

While there's a lot of truth in this, we also have considerable protection in Europe due to GDPR.

For example, this kind of tracking couldn't happen in Europe.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/21/top-catholic-priest-resigns-after-phone-data-tracked-to-grindr/

trashcan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119257906#Comment_119257906

Ive had similar experience. Had mentioned to someone that I was experiencing back pain, next thing ads started appearing on.my Facebook for back pain relief. That is definitely creepy. If you’re searching online then it’s no great surprise when that sort of things happen, but when it’s based on conversations you have, that’s something else again.

I Blame Sheeple

It's curious so many people don't know about the depths of how little privacy you actually have. Someone mentioned earlier that Snowden dropped the dime on all this years ago and if you haven't checked out the leaks, do so now or forever live ignorant and chained.

Here's something I learned from my first 5 mins of reading dumps in 2012; major manufacturers of electric goods will manufacture back doors into nearly every commercially sold product for the sake of 'counter-terrorism' but in reality it's just a cheap way of saying every single television on the market since 2011 has been listening to you remotely.

Yes, it literally sounds tinfoil hat insane but it's there for you to read too.

Heighway61

It's only starting. This technological revolution will dwarf the world-changing Industrial Revolution.

We have sold ourselves so cheaply.

Potential-Monke

Have none of ye watched The Social Dilemma? Basically explains it. Even if you're not into that kinda thing, the docufilm does a good job of explaining it anyway and I highly recommend it. I always have GPS off, and only certian apps can access it while in use, but I do get extra ads if I've left it on accidentally and walk through a town or something. Asking me to review things I walked past.

Best to just accept it and try and not do anything illegal, because it'll only get worse from here imo. We'll get loads of things about how people will protect us, this new law will stop x, y and z, when all that will be happening is that the back doors and dodgy stuff will become harder to detect. It won't ever go away.

Signore Fancy Pants

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119257940#Comment_119257940

Thats only applicable to people/private organisations that are law abiding. State and non-state actors, and nefarious entities care not for legislation.

In reality, we are not not really protected. Mass data collection, storage and analysis is ongoing 24/7/365 and is being sent to different places. The most benign example being email address sharing.

Can we do anything about it? No. So no point worrying about it. Just don't fool yourself.

growleaves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119258200#Comment_119258200

Yes and the FBI more or less forces them to hand over access to those backdoors.

Russian intelligence use typewriters and paper and pencil for communication because its harder to intercept.

Suckit

https://www.privacytools.io/

...

Suckit

Tik Tok is taking it to a different level.

This is from the other day:

https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/mediacenter/security/tiktok-privacy-faceprints/

"The Chinese tech giant is taking surveillance capitalism to a new level. It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for Zuckerberg"

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/25/how-tiktok-is-turning-a-generation-of-video-addicts-into-a-data-goldmine

c.p.w.g.w

I have had a number of incidences were me and my OH would discuss something, I'd start getting adverts pertaining to what we discussed...and if I have googled it that would one thing...but the majority of the time I haven't googled anything and still get the ads

Ubbquittious

Interesting article about what apple/google phones send home even if you don't log into anything

https://www.scss.tcd.ie/doug.leith/apple_google.pdf

AndrewJRenko

Interesting examples

https://twitter.com/jontafkasi/status/1541694024477810688?s=21&t=ydZ50oOTEbgeXCZBUwuevw

huddledDuke12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119258309#Comment_119258309

Basically, as the cliche goes "if you aren't paying for the product, you are the product".

You will also get warnings before using apps where they request various levels of access to your device to function ranging from accessing your contacts to your browsing history and even your devices microphone.

When you sign up to these apps using social media or your prefered email account, this enables the relevant third parties to gather data on how the app is being used as well.

With all of that in mind, you need to be smart about your use of these apps especially, when they ask for access to your microphone as anything it picks up can be transcribed via speech recognition and harvested for data mining culminating in adverts pertaining to topical conversations.

As creepy as it is, terms and conditions need to be read in depth if you are at all dubious about using these apps. A documentary was released back in 2013 in relation to this matter alone. See the synopsis below:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terms_and_Conditions_May_Apply

The Social Dilemma documentary mentioned in an earlier post covers how apps can be made to be addictive.

Ekerot

God, the amount of weird porn I've seen over the years...****.

And to think I aspired to be a politician

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058251941/smartphone-listening

No **** lol. Everyone's known about this for a very long time. It's not a conspiracy theory. It's really happening.

riclad

Unless you have phone on, not in airplane mode you are giving location data to cell towers , nothing to do with satellites, most people use chrome browser, Google sells user data to 1000s of ad networks, google owns chrome , also almost anyone can buy data from ad networks , use brave browser for more privacy. It uses the chrome browser engine. Most apps you use sell user data to ad networks. There's few laws on user privacy re tvs, it's well known modern TV company's sell data to advertisers, when you use apps on the TV, streaming apps, if tv has a Web connection. It's publicly known, its not a back door, TV streaming apps sell data to advertisers, eg what TV shows you watch, ads you watch etc if you are concerned don't connect TV to the Web, no need to have location on ever unless you are using a mapping driving app, unless you are using a messaging app, or something like Facebook messenger, social media, your phone is not connected to your pals phone ever, the content on your friends phone does not randomly jump into your phone, it's not like catching the measles. Company's want to sell user data, it's easy money, nothing to do with terrorism. Most apps are free, they show ads or invite you to sign up for discounts on goods. Like store cards that give you points , they do this to be able to acess all the items you buy. It's well known that att other American telecom company's give the nsa acess to user data. If you use any apps social media tik Tok someone has acess to all that data

Most people don't care at all they just want to watch a funny video or talk to friends on insta meta messaging apps Brave browser does not sell your data to advertisers

last time I checked its in the app store

murpho999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119259831#Comment_119259831

The amount of anecdotes like above I have heard just don't ring true to me .

I have tested this certain times with people and we'd start talking random stuff and nobody received any advertising whatsoever.

Whilst I agree that privacy is an issue with today's technology I think a lot of these claims about ads are just paranoia, fictitious or just stemming from the person's activities (not always Google).

mookishboy

Its all about the meta data. Thats pretty much it. location of device, sites searched, products bought or searched for etc. then proximity to other devices. all is just meta data. shared by pretty much all devices, aggregated and served up

riclad

Unless you use certain apps theres no data shared by phones if you are in house with someone , most people use chrome, Google takes data from search, browsing data, YouTube and uses it to show you ads, most Web digital ad revenue is sold by Google or Facebook , if you don't like it use firefox or brave browser, and limit use of social media

Tik Tok is now recording voice audio data for some reason for anyone who posts videos, its the no 1 video app for time watched per day

Cookie_Monster

The really annoying thing is even with all this targeted advertising its still crap.

If you search for something / research it and then buy it the ads still pop up a week later. I DONT NEED TO SEE ADS FOR THIS BIKE IVE ALREADY BOUGHT YOU DUMB ADVERTISING!

Muahahaha

I remember Amazon admitted a few years back that their Alexa devices are always listening in the room, not just when you speak to them. Would imagine Google Home is the same. The article said the feature can be turned off but no doubt it is buried somewhere on their website that is not easy to find. It also said that you can request a recording of everything it has recorded, Ive been meaning to do it myself just out of interest. Would love to hear from anyone who has requested it, Id say it is freakish the amount of recordings they have on you. Also I would imagine its only a matter of time before we see criminals convicted off the back of a smartspeaker that was in a room recording them.

I think another thing people will be surprised by is just the sheer amount of data points they have on us. That Austrian student lawyer who took on Facebook over privacy got his own data out of them and just a few years use of Facebook amounted to something like 3,000 pages when it was all printed out for him. Most of us just click 'Accept all cookies' but if you ever go in to 'Manage cookies' the agreement to accept all cookies is basically you agreeing for them to share your data with hundreds and sometimes thousands of companies. And thats just off clicking Accept all on a single website, we've all clicked thousands of them. So its not inconceivable that we have given permission to over a million companies/entities to track everything we do and share it amongst themselves. Permission for them to sell that data on, the works. Its pretty freakish and we have really slept walked into this.

Grayson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119256102#Comment_119256102

Yep. People think their phones are listening to their conversations. The reality is scarier. The fact is that these companies know so much about you that they can predict what you're going to say. The head of cambridge analytica once said that with 25 points of data he could predict how someone was going to vote with greater accuracy than their spouse could.

And it's every bit of data. They know you like vanilla ice creams, well that makes you slightly more likely to do some things than a person who likes chocolate ice creams. That fact by itself can't predict anything, but when you add it into the hundred other things that your phone knows about you, you get a very detailed profile. Someone mentioned that their friend traveled to Turkey for a hair transplant and they started getting ads for hair transplants. Were they friends with that person on social media? Was there a lot of interaction between them on social media? Did the friend post about the hair transplant? Are there photo's of both of them were one can see hair loss? Or was it just as simple as them liking a post on facebook where their friend said they had a hair transplant?

Grayson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119258200#Comment_119258200

There's rules about that. I remember a big issue with Nuance (They're a voice recognition company that makes the software that's used by the likes of samsung) keeping data on people. There's strict rules, especially in the EU about what they can and cant store.

In reality they don't need most of that info. They have enough on us already, just from tracking cookies.

No, your smartphone is not listening to you.

Pretty sure The Good Information Project debunked it.

daheff

Absolutely 100% this I happening to me too.

Had a call with an excolleauge. He started talking about a new system they were using and if I had ever used it before. I said no & conversation moved on. Next day I started seeing ads for this system.

It's an FP&A system called Anaplan. Not something I'd be searching on my private phone.