One of my weirder hobbies is trying to convince people that the idea that companies are listening to you through your phone’s microphone and serving you targeted ads is a …

Not my title! I do think we are being listened to. And location tracked. And it’s being passed on to advertisers. Is it apple though? Probably not is my take away from this article, but I don’t trust plenty of others, and apple still does

  • @essteeyouEnglish
    19•4 days ago

    Perhaps they track who you talk to and show you ads that are relevant to those people, or their best guess based on two profiles.

    I don’t think there’s a data center out there with a live audio stream of literally billions of always-on devices 24/7/365.

    Perhaps there’s some local processing first, but devices have permissions for apps, and lights that indicate the mic/camera is in use.

    I figure someone would have figured it out by now (reverse engineering, decompiling code), or someone from Google/Apple/Samsung would have leaked it if it were true. Think of the number of people required to keep this secret.

    • @AstridWipenaughEnglish
      11•4 days ago

      And yet my android phone is able to detect what song is playing 24x7 without being a noticeable drain on the battery or using extra data. Doesn’t seem far fetched to be able to do keyword spotting under the same constraints.

      Here’s one example of a company getting caught: https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/us/next-time-you-talk-on-your-phone-be-careful-facebook-and-google-are-listening-to-your-conversations/articleshow/113071827.cms

      • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥English
        2•4 days ago

        And yet my android phone is able to detect what song is playing 24x7

        What is this referring to? Spotify?

        • @[email protected]English
          16•4 days ago

          On my android it’s called “now playing” and it’s a feature of the os. It even recognizes live cover versions as the song they’re covering sometimes. Claims to do it all local-only without sending data, just always listening and seeing what it recognizes.

          • @[email protected]English
            2•4 days ago

            Granted, things are getting to the point that it may very well be possible. But these kinds of claims have been around for over a decade, and today my voice control devices still fail to understand me rather regularly.

            Not to mention, a song is usually extremely easy to pick out. In a loud bar with background music, your brain tends to pick up the beat and start grooving along with it, even if you don’t realize it most of the time. Compared to the person sitting across the table trying to yell things to you, and you having to resort to lip reading and guesswork.

            • @[email protected]English
              6•4 days ago

              Or live music played by musicians, in this case.

              Maybe it is only for Pixel phones. It’s hard for me to differentiate between pixel features and stock android recently.

    • @[email protected]English
      4•4 days ago

      No. With my therapist I talk randomly about so many things. It’s impossible to predict or calculate.

      Also I talk to my therapist in person while the phones in my pocket or table.

      Edit: also have you ever had a natural flowing conversation? It’s not predictable because you can possibly talk about everything and anything.