Your smart device continually listens. How do you feel about that?

[Heyo]

I know a fair number of people who do.

Too few. And it's relatively easy to avoid, but you'd give up some convenience, and that's what most people won't do.

 

[ChristineM]

Bof.

I don't really care.

 

[Secret Chief]

I've read a couple of good books on how and why our devices use our input. So I'm not totally ignorant or paranoid or believe in any particular Jewish-controlled lizard-based conspiracy theory. However, on more than one occasion I have deliberately done something like this:

(One specifice example)...With my phone and ipad next to me I clearly said various slang/expletive terms such as **** (rhymes with hit), *** (rhymes with who) and **** (rhymes with bird). Get the idea? Before the day was out and then for several days I got adverts in my email account for

- Who Gives A Crap + Good Time

I have categorically never searched for this product, bought this product, or any similar item.

My wife has done the same thing too and has received similar results eg said meat related words and then got enticing ads for meat products (she's vegan as ****).

(I use the duckduckgo search engine and an ad-blocker and have every non-essential option turned off as far as I'm aware).

This sort of ... coincidence ... has occurred more than once.

How's that work then?

 

[Mock Turtle]

The Recall feature that MS have tried to implement on PCs hasn't gone down well. I wonder why! I have enough trouble with MS anyway - an older Win10 PC - so I try to avoid anything they try to shove onto me. This policy will probably apply to any smartphones I might have or as to the future.

 

[bobhikes]

Is it still a conspiracy theory that your phone is always listening? Genuine question.

It’s pretty obvious now, ain’t it? The ads give it away. You talk about something like a specific product then you get ads for it. Everyone in my life is quite aware of this as it is quite obvious. So in my offline life it is an accepted fact by everyone that your phone is always listening.

Anecdote. I once told a friend this while we were fishing. He freaked out and threw his phone into the canal. I laughed so hard. During that time, I lived completely offline as I didn’t like the idea of my devices always listening to me.

I’ve grown to accept the always listening ear now out of apathetic convenience.

What about you? What do you think about your phones and such always listening in to what you are saying?

If it is, it's one of the few and it's not judgemental so I'm fine with it.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I'm unconcerned. Nothing I have to say is really of any importance anyway.

And I'm going to get ads for something anyway. May as well be something I'm interested in.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I have never observed this. I only get targeted ads after I type or use voice search. But not for anything else.
Also I really do not care even if it's true, though I doubt it.

I think it's largely dependent on phone settings.

I hadn't mentioned Blackberry for years. I was sitting on the porch talking to my daughter one day and a discussion about our earliest smartphones came up. I mentioned the Blackberrys we had, and lo and behold, I open Facebook to look for a photo and I see the first Blackberry ads I've seen in a decade. I immediately went to my phone settings an removed Facebook's access to my microphone.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I don’t think anyone cares

You may not, but if no one did, this thread wouldn't exist.

 

[Balthazzar]

Doesn't bother me. I've also been told my robo-vac is a spy!

Does your tv watch you watch it?

 

[an anarchist]

you'd give up some convenience, and that's what most people won't do.

Aaaaand that’s how humanity doomed itself.

FIN

 

[Augustus]

Is it still a conspiracy theory that your phone is always listening? Genuine question.

It’s not really a conspiracy theory as phones do listen for cues to activate voice assistants, and permissions and app access can be a bit opaque.

I’d say it is possibly happening, but not proven and there are alternative explanations.

Either way, the uncanny ability to target ads to things you have talked about at least makes it a reasonable hypothesis (I noticed it far more on android than iPhone fwiw but maybe it’s just coincidence).

 

[Kathryn]

All I know is that if someone is listening to me, they are bored.

 

[Heyo]

Aaaaand that’s how humanity doomed itself.

FIN

Yep. That's how the robot/AI apocalypse will happen. These things will be so useful and convenient that we won't be able to live without them.
Everything you think you possess, possesses you.

 

[Spice]

But you shipped correct. They accessed data from the transaction data shared by the store or the financial institutions.

This is about actual visits to a brick and mortar. I've since made sure my "location" has been cut off.

 

[Spice]

Does your tv watch you watch it?

It's not that smart. LOL It's not connected to anything but airwaves and rarely cut on.

 

[Spice]

All I know is that if someone is listening to me, they are bored.

With my accent they probably don't understand anyway.

 

[Stevicus]

All I know is that if someone is listening to me, they are bored.

 

[Alien826]

Any device that is voice actuated has to listen for the trigger word. I have various "Alexa" devices and it's funny how they sometimes start replying when I didn't intend it. Officially they listen and immediately "forget" what they hear until the trigger word is detected, which, if true, is acceptable to me.

If true ....

Until recently, our defense has been the problem of recording and then searching everything everyone says. Think what storage and computing power that would take. Now, I'm not so sure.

 

[Secret Chief]

Alexa, steal the election.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Alexa, steal the election.

Now prepare yourself for a litany of campaign ads...