June 11, 20187 yr Quote A couple years ago, something strange happened. A friend and I were sitting at a bar, iPhones in pockets, discussing our recent trips in Japan and how we’d like to go back. The very next day, we both received pop-up ads on Facebook about cheap return flights to Tokyo. It seemed like just a spooky coincidence, but then everyone seems to have a story about their smartphone listening to them. So is this just paranoia, or are our smartphones actually listening? According to Dr. Peter Hannay—The senior security consultant for cybersecurity firm Asterisk, and former lecturer and researcher at Edith Cowan University—the short answer is yes, but perhaps in a way that's not as diabolical as it sounds. For your smartphone to actually pay attention and record your conversation, there needs to be a trigger, such as when you say “hey Siri” or “okay Google.” In the absence of these triggers, any data you provide is only processed within your own phone. This might not seem a cause for alarm, but any third party applications you have on your phone—like Facebook for example—still have access to this “non-triggered” data. And whether or not they use this data is really up to them. “From time to time, snippets of audio do go back to [other apps like Facebook’s] servers but there’s no official understanding what the triggers for that are,” explains Peter. “Whether it’s timing or location-based or usage of certain functions, [apps] are certainly pulling those microphone permissions and using those periodically. All the internals of the applications send this data in encrypted form, so it’s very difficult to define the exact trigger.” ... More: https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/wjbzzy/your-phone-is-listening-and-its-not-paranoia?utm_campaign=global&utm_source=vicefbanz What's in your wallet smartphone?
June 11, 20187 yr On my Android, I have an option to enable the phone to listen all of the time. This has to be turned on in order for me to be able to utilize the "OK Google" option to do voice searches. If I disable this option, I have to physically pres the microphone icon in order for me to search by voice. Now, whether "disabling" the feature actually disables the feature is a valid question that I don't know the answer to, but I can say that I've never had the creepy ads coming from a voice conversation.
June 11, 20187 yr Author http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/disable-microphone-setting-facebook-apps-article-1.2663121
June 11, 20187 yr 3 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said: I WOULD LIKE TO GOOGLE HOORS. id like vagene and bobs and they don't show up when I ask for them. I haz sad.
June 11, 20187 yr There have been times when I talk about something random and an ad comes up for it on my phone around an hour later. Happens all the time. First time I remember it being something fishy was when I was talking with the wife about Back to the Future and ads for Back to the Future shirts and the box set Bluray popped up in Tapatalk later that day. She was the one that brought it up and I hadn't searched anything "Back to the Future" in years.
June 11, 20187 yr 52 minutes ago, Eastwood said: There have been times when I talk about something random and an ad comes up for it on my phone around an hour later. Happens all the time. First time I remember it being something fishy was when I was talking with the wife about Back to the Future and ads for Back to the Future shirts and the box set Bluray popped up in Tapatalk later that day. She was the one that brought it up and I hadn't searched anything "Back to the Future" in years. A lot of people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch of unconnected incidents and things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything. Give you an example, show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, "plate," or "shrimp," or "plate of shrimp" out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness.
June 11, 20187 yr 2 hours ago, Cheeseweasel said: A lot of people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch of unconnected incidents and things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything. Give you an example, show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, "plate," or "shrimp," or "plate of shrimp" out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness. Just make sure you don't talk about doing any crimes where your phone can hear you.
June 11, 20187 yr 3 hours ago, Eastwood said: There have been times when I talk about something random and an ad comes up for it on my phone around an hour later. Happens all the time. First time I remember it being something fishy was when I was talking with the wife about Back to the Future and ads for Back to the Future shirts and the box set Bluray popped up in Tapatalk later that day. She was the one that brought it up and I hadn't searched anything "Back to the Future" in years. Maybe you searched for Back to the Future in the future.
June 11, 20187 yr Author 7 minutes ago, SKJ said: This shit never happens to me. ... Me either, but I don't use Facebook or use social media apps on my phone.
June 11, 20187 yr 4 minutes ago, Prepuce of Doom said: Maybe you searched for Back to the Future in the future. Excellent point. And yes, you should assume your phone is listening at all times. Your computer, too.
June 12, 20187 yr Quote Your Phone Is Listening This is why I always try to set a good example for my phone. #Cat'sInTheCradle
June 12, 20187 yr Once in a while my phone asks me what I'm looking for. I just tell it to shut the fuck up, and I'll find my pants by myself.
June 12, 20187 yr Yknow, I just noticed. It used to be two tiers of settings in Google App/Assistant. You could start Google App/Now/Assistant and have it respond to voice using OK google. Or, with grant of extra permissions, have OK google start the app/assistant from anywhere, including lock screen. I just checked and it's only the latter now. It is also off.
June 12, 20187 yr Look up your google stats, the amount of info they have is incredible. Can tell you everywhere you've been for years.
June 12, 20187 yr 2 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said: Just make sure you don't talk about doing any crimes where your phone can hear you. What about my casual use of racial slurs?
June 12, 20187 yr As long as you're talking about goddamn-dipshit-Rodriguez-gypsy-dildo-punks, then I think you're okay.
June 12, 20187 yr A couple years ago, something strange happened. A friend and I were sitting at a bar, iPhones in pockets, discussing our recent trips in Japan and how we’d like to go back. The very next day, we both received pop-up ads on Facebook about cheap return flights to Tokyo. It seemed like just a spooky coincidence, but then everyone seems to have a story about their smartphone listening to them. So is this just paranoia, or are our smartphones actually listening?” ... More: https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/wjbzzy/your-phone-is-listening-and-its-not-paranoia?utm_campaign=global&utm_source=vicefbanz What's in your wallet smartphone?Maybe they got messages about returning to Japan because they had just been to Japan.
June 12, 20187 yr I realize this is a real thing, but at the same time I get ads in Spanish all the time -- a language I don't speak -- so I think I've somehow successfully fooled my phone.
June 12, 20187 yr 1 hour ago, Tom said: I realize this is a real thing, but at the same time I get ads in Spanish all the time -- a language I don't speak -- so I think I've somehow successfully fooled my phone. ¿Que?
June 12, 20187 yr 2 hours ago, Red Five said: More: https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/wjbzzy/your-phone-is-listening-and-its-not-paranoia?utm_campaign=global&utm_source=vicefbanz What's in your wallet smartphone? Maybe they got messages about returning to Japan because they had just been to Japan. That was my first thought, but doesn’t scare the masses so can’t be the reason.
June 12, 20187 yr On my Android, I have an option to enable the phone to listen all of the time. This has to be turned on in order for me to be able to utilize the "OK Google" option to do voice searches. If I disable this option, I have to physically pres the microphone icon in order for me to search by voice. Now, whether "disabling" the feature actually disables the feature is a valid question that I don't know the answer to, but I can say that I've never had the creepy ads coming from a voice conversation.Good thing you disabled it, that means they cant listen anymore. Scouts honor or something.
June 12, 20187 yr Look up your google stats, the amount of info they have is incredible. Can tell you everywhere you've been for years. Show yours
June 12, 20187 yr 11 hours ago, Tom said: I realize this is a real thing, but at the same time I get ads in Spanish all the time -- a language I don't speak -- so I think I've somehow successfully fooled my phone. So you've been making a lot of those quick trips down to Ciudad Acuña?
June 13, 20187 yr How else could your phone respond to hey Siri or ok google if it’s not always listening?
June 13, 20187 yr 21 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said: How else could your phone respond to hey Siri or ok google if it’s not always listening?
June 13, 20187 yr If this stuff bothers you, turn off Siri/Ok Google, use DuckDuckGo as your search engine, and install the DuckDuckGo browser extension that provides information about and blocks trackers on pages you visit. Don't provide these companies with the data they need to creep on you, and it's probably a good habit to err on the side of caution when it comes to your data anyway. I don't use voice-activated Siri enough for deactivating it to bother me, and the other adjustments are pretty much set and forget (Safari and Chrome both allow DuckDuckGo to be set as your search provider, the extension does its thing in the background). I still use Google search for more ambiguous searches, as their algorithms seem to provide better results when the search string is nonspecific. I'm more worried about these companies making a mistake with that amount of data than I am them being outright nefarious.
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