I read this post on The Bloggler’s website regarding adverts/ searching the Internet for information, and strangely enough soon after I read it I had a call from my son. He mentioned that he and a work colleague were talking about dishwashers over a cup of tea at work (as you do), and that very soon, maybe a day or so after their conversation, an advert for a dishwasher appeared on my son’s Facebook page.
This to me is rather scary. Sam immediately looked up whether iPhones were listening to private conversations. One of the answers came back that Smartphones do pick up audio in your environment, but that it’s not the same as actively listening to conversations. However, another answer was that everything that is said may be recorded through your onboard microphone and that Smartphones routinely collect voice data, store it in a distant server, and use it for marketing purposes.
Miranda Knox of the Sun Online carried out an experiment in May 2019 where she kept her phone close and constantly talked about things she had never Googled before; business cards, spandex, and vegan food. She kept using Facebook and Instagram. Within days she had a never-ending stream of adverts targeted towards business cards, spandex and vegan food.
Big brother is not only watching you, he’s listening as well. Sam and I immediately turned off our microphones in the ‘Settings’ app. Neither of us realised that stuff like this goes on.
I carried on searching whether iPhones can secretly listen in to private conversations. Another answer is that according to The Sun, an orange warning dot will be visible in the top right hand corner of the screen if someone is listening in. The problem is, how does anybody know what is fake news or not?
Perhaps my ‘retro’ phone is the best one after all!
Big brother is everywhere. I don’t think we can escape it, but I at least won’t have an Alexa. 🙂 x
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Neither will I. x
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Of course! 🙂 x
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I don’t have an Alexa, but I’ve heard many stories similar to those you are referencing. It is a bit disturbing to think that everything we do is being monitored.
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I think we’ve been monitored for years. Perhaps the powers that be are on the lookout for terrorists?
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I have had similar conversations about Alexa and other such devices. While they claim that Alexa turns off until she hears her name, she must be listening to hear her name, which means she must hear other things that are said, too. Smart technology is scary, because most of us really don’t know how it works. Can someone watch you through your web cam on your computer? Yes. Can Alexa hear what you are talking about? Yes. Can your smart phone hear your conversations? My guess would be yes.
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Yes, yes and yes.
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So creepy how so many “fictional” movies such as The Bourne Series, etc. may not be so far off. But the thing is, when I try to warn my kids (teens) to pay attention to things like this, they blow it off as if I’m sitting in front of them wearing my tin foil hat. Maybe I am, but I’d rather question things than take them at face value. Thanks for the heads-up. BTW, I will never own an alexa or those “smart” home security devices either.
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Teenagers will only think of the present and their own enjoyment. You can’t put old heads on young shoulders.
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Interesting post Stevie. I never trusted iPhones or Alexa and it’s equivalents. I get more paranoid when I hear things like this!!
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Have you ever seen the film ‘Snowden’, Stevie? I recommend it. Eye opening!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowden_(film)
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No, I haven’t. Perhaps I should!
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Me too. I’d never have an Alexa.
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I wrote about this a year ago, Stevie, including examples of how Google Assistant was listening to my wife’s phone.
https://beetleypete.com/2020/01/10/alexa-google-and-cookies-the-frightening-reality/
It is happening all the time to anyone with Alexa or any ‘digital assistant’ activated. Since that post, my wife has managed to uninstall the Google Assistant fro her phone, and I have never had anything lie that active on my phone, tablet, or PC.
But they can also ‘see’ what your phone camera is doing, and I include a very good example of that in the post.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks Pete. I’d forgotten about this. I’ll show it to Sam.
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It’s scary, for sure.
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My ‘smart phone’ lives switched off until I need it to make a call. Anybody needs me, they can call the landline 🙂
Very occasionally, as often as once or twice a year, I’ll go out with it switched on because somebody will need to contact me when I’m travelling. But as I don’t have it with me when I’m working round the yard, there’s no point giving people the number 🙂
And being switched off, it cannot keep track of where I’ve been either 🙂
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Some ‘organisations’ can track your phone as long as the battery is connected, Jim. (Despite what the provider might say, or what you see on TV consumer programmes.) That is why spies in films always take the battery out and throw it away separately when they are compromised. But as you are not a terrorist, I wouldn’t worry too much about them wanting to know where you are. 🙂
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Heigh ho and it’s back to wrapping it in tinfoil 🙂
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Sounds like a good idea!
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