OT: Cell phone spying?

[RUfinally2008]

We don't have our Google Home hooked up since we moved and down sized 2 years ago yet our computer will show links to off the wall topics we've had a discussion on out loud. Topics, I've never Google searched, yet links continue to show up in my news feed. Talking about a fire and sinking of a ship along the Belmar coast years ago, and a link to the story showed up in my news feed. Talked about a certain type of store and a link to it was in the news feed the next time I loaded my computer, crazy. Google Assistance must be listening 24/7. I'm sure many of you knew that already, but I didn't.

 

[ScarletDave]

If you have an iPhone this absolutely happens. Even with Hey Siri turned off, location services blah blah you can “switch” them all off but this absolutely happens, just no one code savvy enough that also cares enough has called them out on it.
Try it, say the word of a company out loud a few time. “Nike, shoes, need new sneakers, want sneakers, adidas” and don’t you know within a few hours you’ll have Nike ads show up on your Facebook/twitter feed.

 

[RUAldo]

Haha…welcome to 2021…if anyone actually took the time to read the fine print in the terms of service of apps, devices, etc., and happened to have a law degree to understand it, what you would find is shocking. Technology has gotten so far ahead of our common understanding of the way it works that we are just pawns in the games played by Silicon Valley titans.

 

[anon_ivydyf0amkzay]

If you have an iPhone this absolutely happens. Even with Hey Siri turned off, location services blah blah you can “switch” them all off but this absolutely happens, just no one code savvy enough that also cares enough has called them out on it.
Try it, say the word of a company out loud a few time. “Nike, shoes, need new sneakers, want sneakers, adidas” and don’t you know within a few hours you’ll have Nike ads show up on your Facebook/twitter feed.

I just tried your shoe verbal experiment…I don’t have any social media accounts but perhaps via email?

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

Try this... talk about something odd.. repeat it.. say "I need a new Monkey Wrench" in listening distance to your devices.. see if you suddenly start seeing plumbing supplies and tools feeds. and, yes, I tried that.. with google home.. it "worked".. but if any of you guys don't typically get those feeds and try the test I'd be curious what happens. And I never said "okay google or hey google first.. just regular conversation..

 

[ClassOf02]

I keep trying this by mentioning the words Aston Martin, my name, and my birthday. Yet still no Aston Martin in the garage.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

I just said “hot 30-yr old milfs” a hundred times

 

[okieKnight908]

It definitely listens to you, although the companies like to say it just indicates how well their predictive algorithms work. For whatever reason, I was talking to my boss once about having radiators in my New Brunswick apartment and up pops radiator repair ads about ten minutes later, despite never once having searched for anything having to do with radiators. Same thing happened back when we bought a home and we’re mentioning various things we might need.

While it doesn’t pertain to audio capture, you can now at least turn off web tracking in the new iOS:

The New iOS Update Lets You Stop Ads From Tracking You—So Do It

Facebook and other advertisers fought the move, but App Tracking Transparency is finally here.

www.wired.com

 

[Jm0513]

👀 👀

 

[Jm0513]

In my house we only talk in the bathrooms, no phones... shower running.
They're eavesdropping from space. No doubt about it.

 

[rurichdog]

Did youse guys not believe Ed Snowden when he detailed this years ago?

 

[RUfinally2008]

If you have an iPhone this absolutely happens. Even with Hey Siri turned off, location services blah blah you can “switch” them all off but this absolutely happens, just no one code savvy enough that also cares enough has called them out on it.
Try it, say the word of a company out loud a few time. “Nike, shoes, need new sneakers, want sneakers, adidas” and don’t you know within a few hours you’ll have Nike ads show up on your Facebook/twitter feed.

That's forkin crazy!!!

 

[MadRU]

 

[yesrutgers01]

There so many ways they are getting to you and yes-Siri/Alexa do pick it up. So do emails, text messages and all of the social media. You do not have to post or search but let's say your son or daughter have a baby and "they" post it on SM...it is smart enough to find their parents and start sending "worlds best GrandParent" type carp and baby stuff to the grandparents.
I believe if you even have your tracking online with your smartphone, it is picking up if and when you walk into a store who has purchased these services as well.

We will complain about it at home and first thing our Eldest tells us- Shhhhhhhh - that is how I pay my bills. hahaha as he is a director of programmatic advertising. And this is exactly what he sells to the big brands.

 

[yesrutgers01]

There so many ways they are getting to you and yes-Siri/Alexa do pick it up. So do emails, text messages and all of the social media. You do not have to post or search but let's say your son or daughter have a baby and "they" post it on SM...it is smart enough to find their parents and start sending "worlds best GrandParent" type carp and baby stuff to the grandparents.
I believe if you even have your tracking online with your smartphone, it is picking up if and when you walk into a store who has purchased these services as well.

We will complain about it at home and first thing our Eldest tells us- Shhhhhhhh - that is how I pay my bills. hahaha as he is a director of programmatic advertising. And this is exactly what he sells to the big brands.

BTW- not always bad either and a great way to shop. Instead of hiding from it and walking into a store to buy, if you do a search- you will be sent sales, best buys, coupons etc

 

[ashokan]

TVs, phones, appliances, cars etc - all are collecting data and uploading. Cars save their own info but they all suck, save and and transmit data off your phone - via connections you don't know are on. I keep as many apps off my phone as possible but if you're connected to others with apps you're still being cultured like a bacterium in a lab dish.

What does your car know about you? We hacked a Chevy to find out.​

What does your car know about you? We hacked a Chevy to find out.

A privacy experiment found hundreds of sensors and an always-on Internet connection. Tech writer Geoffrey Fowler found driving surveillance is becoming very hard to avoid.

www.seattletimes.com

Your Car Is Spying on You, and a CBP Contract Shows the Risks​

Your Car Is Spying on You, and a CBP Contract Shows the Risks

A “vehicle forensics kit” can reveal where you’ve driven, what doors you opened, and who your friends are.

theintercept.com

 

[WhiteBus]

We don't have our Google Home hooked up since we moved and down sized 2 years ago yet our computer will show links to off the wall topics we've had a discussion on out loud. Topics, I've never Google searched, yet links continue to show up in my news feed. Talking about a fire and sinking of a ship along the Belmar coast years ago, and a link to the story showed up in my news feed. Talked about a certain type of store and a link to it was in the news feed the next time I loaded my computer, crazy. Google Assistance must be listening 24/7. I'm sure many of you knew that already, but I didn't.

The same thing happens when we all post on this board. We would be talking about something about Rutgers Football and than bang, the next morning there is an article by Steve Politi in the Star Ledger on the very same topic!! Freaky.

 

[cubuffsdoug]

Put your phone in a ziplock bag and place it in the freeze. Now you're free to talk.

 

[cubuffsdoug]

The same thing happens when we all post on this board. We would be talking about something about Rutgers Football and than bang, the next morning there is an article by Steve Politi in the Star Ledger on the very same topic!! Freaky.

post of the year

 

[RUforester72]

The same thing happens when we all post on this board. We would be talking about something about Rutgers Football and than bang, the next morning there is an article by Steve Politi in the Star Ledger on the very same topic!! Freaky.

Fortunately we rarely talk about Rutgers Football.

 

[IMARUFAN]

This happened to me as well. On an android phone.

Driving in our car, my wife said something about stopping to get some ice cream on the way home. Not long after, an ad for a coupon for ice cream popped up on her phone. Seriously.

 

[HeavenUniv.]

This is why I wanted to keep the candlestick !!!

 

[HeavenUniv.]

Am I the only one that turns their phone off when they aren’t using it ? Do these tracking devices still work when the phone is turned off? Is there any type of container it can be put in to block the tracking?

 

[RUAldo]

There so many ways they are getting to you and yes-Siri/Alexa do pick it up. So do emails, text messages and all of the social media. You do not have to post or search but let's say your son or daughter have a baby and "they" post it on SM...it is smart enough to find their parents and start sending "worlds best GrandParent" type carp and baby stuff to the grandparents.
I believe if you even have your tracking online with your smartphone, it is picking up if and when you walk into a store who has purchased these services as well.

We will complain about it at home and first thing our Eldest tells us- Shhhhhhhh - that is how I pay my bills. hahaha as he is a director of programmatic advertising. And this is exactly what he sells to the big brands.

I’ve taken the approach that if you can’t beat them, join them. Which is why my biggest stock holdings are Google, FB, Apple, and a few other tech titans. If they are gonna profit off me I needed to find a way to profit off them.

 

[RUBlackout]

Ever hear the quote “when your not paying for the product, you are the product”

the companies make majority of their money off of advertising and improving their data quality.

they are co Stanton listening so they can improve their machine learning(ie identify a tree when you store pictures in Google photos) or improve their Natural language processing(ie how to understand you and respond), which is all done by recording your voices and than annotations are being done by humans or machines or they want to improve their algorithms for producing the targeted ads to collect more money from advertisers.

this is the entire business model behind Google, Facebook, and Amazon. You can turn off all these settings in their devices and to answer your question they are all spying any chance they can get. All depends if you see a value in it or not and if you believe these systems can’t be hacked either.

 

[RUfinally2008]

This doesn’t happen for me. Which Nokia model do you have?

I have the Motorola Moto G 6

 

[anon_ivydyf0amkzay]

Fortunately we rarely talk about Rutgers Football.

Thread WON and ENDED!
boom!

 

[anvilofstars]

To the folks that believe the iPhone is listening to them. I would say, that it does have OS level checks to see if your phone is listening. The dot on the top left will tell if you your video and audio are on. Harder to tell on Android.

however, the truth is, there are a lot of signs you are giving to advertisers that you probably don’t even know. They know if you read about Nike shoes on this forum and how much time you spent reading that post. It may encourage algorithms to advertise to you. Even if you don’t want to share location, they can guess it. They know your relatives and friends. They know what they like too. They have an idea of what they are spending their time on.

 

[RUfinally2008]

Am I the only one that turns their phone off when they aren’t using it ? Do these tracking devices still work when the phone is turned off? Is there any type of container it can be put in to block the tracking?

Good questions, I have no clue.

 

[RUinPinehurst]

Many apps you have downloaded and active require you to give them permission to access your microphone, camera, media, files, etc. You grant them such permission knowingly and, at times, unknowingly. Only keep what apps you really need/want and use. Delete all others. Oh, and always assume your conversations are being captured and mined, for all sorts of purposes.

 

[goru1869]

Am I the only one that turns their phone off when they aren’t using it ? Do these tracking devices still work when the phone is turned off? Is there any type of container it can be put in to block the tracking?

No one needs to bring a phone with them everywhere they go. My wife son and I went to Gettysburg a few weeks ago. My phone stayed home . Why bring it my family was with me. When we go to my sons baseball games like we will tonight , my phone stays home. Why bring it I am there to watch my son play ball. When we go shopping , why bring it my family is with me. Too many people are addicted to phones and it is VERY SAD .

 

[RUJohnny]

No one needs to bring a phone with them everywhere they go. My wife son and I went to Gettysburg a few weeks ago. My phone stayed home . Why bring it my family was with me. When we go to my sons baseball games like we will tonight , my phone stays home. Why bring it I am there to watch my son play ball. When we go shopping , why bring it my family is with me. Too many people are addicted to phones and it is VERY SAD .

I get anxious when I don't check my phone for a while. I expect several messages and items requiring my attention, as if I am anticipating having let someone down or having a new pile of unexpected work. I know it's a problem.

 

[RUJohnny]

Am I the only one that turns their phone off when they aren’t using it ? Do these tracking devices still work when the phone is turned off? Is there any type of container it can be put in to block the tracking?

Yes it's called a Faraday bag.

 

[fsg2]

No one needs to bring a phone with them everywhere they go. My wife son and I went to Gettysburg a few weeks ago. My phone stayed home . Why bring it my family was with me. When we go to my sons baseball games like we will tonight , my phone stays home. Why bring it I am there to watch my son play ball. When we go shopping , why bring it my family is with me. Too many people are addicted to phones and it is VERY SAD .

What if you were the guy in the porta-shitter, tho? Bet you woulda missed that phone then.

 

[goru1869]

What if you were the guy in the porta-shitter, tho? Bet you woulda missed that phone then.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, maybe , but I wasn't .

 

[fg7321]

Google and FB are a tightly integrated advertising model If you search in the same browser on google you will be seeing it on your FB feed. Those advertisers are paying Google and FB for those services.

 

[CranfordKnight]

If a device responds to a verbal cue such as "Alexa" or "hey Google", then it's obviously listening at all times. Like the OP, I've had ads pushed to me for years based on conversations I've had in my house or car.

 

[Big East Beast]

The Google and Alexa devices are in a listening mode all the time; otherwise they would not be able to do anything when you say “Hey Google” or “Alexa”.

We need a consumer privacy law in US.

 

[Scarlet Jerry]

Had a very crazy example of this happen to me last night. I have digital music software on my computer for when I write and compose music. This is a standalone recording app - it is not web-enabled in any way. I was creating a composition using a very rare instrument that makes the sound of a male choir. I also was logged into my Gmail account, but that was running in the background. Sure enough, I go to YouTube a few minutes later, and two of the videos on my Youtube main page feature reviews of and tutorials about the very niche instrument that I was playing! It appears that my microphone was picking up the sound, so it somehow knew the instrument that I was using and featured it when I went to YouTube. I expect this to happen when I'm using Web-based apps and social media, or even my phone, but I never had the computer know what I was using if the program was not connected to the Web. My only explanation is that it heard the sounds from my digital recording and it used recognized that and sent the videos to my YouTube screen. THAT is really scary.

Scarlet Jerry

 

[okieKnight908]

The Google and Alexa devices are in a listening mode all the time; otherwise they would not be able to do anything when you say “Hey Google” or “Alexa”.

We need a consumer privacy law in US.

Exactly. Same with iOS. Another user said a dot shows up to show the mic is active, however, you can just say “hey Siri” at anytime and it opens up.