Our mobile devices listen to and collect a significant amount of data on us, even without using our microphones.

  • @[email protected]
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    252 years ago

    Give me a way to physically shut off the microphone (like a camera shield on business laptops), then we will talk.

    Strange topics had popped up in my Google feed after l spoke to someone about something I’ve never googled before

    • TheRealKuni
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      122 years ago

      Right but if THEY Googled it, and Google knows that you share a connection (they do), they can recommend stuff to you based on that.

      There’s no need for them to listen to your conversations to do this. As someone else said, think of how often you talk about something and DON’T get advertisements for it.

      • @whofearsthenight
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        52 years ago

        I mentioned elsewhere, but people also don’t realize that this data is often collected in ways they don’t expect. For example, if you have a club card at a retailer, your purchase data is likely being shared outside of just that retailer. So you go to the store and buy some kitty litter for the first time. Then all of a sudden one of your other services start showing you ads for cat toys. Location data is sold all of the time now, and that’s often through carriers. Oh, you started going to the gym, best show some ads for workout gear…

        • @sijt
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          12 years ago

          You don’t even need a loyalty card at that retailer. Your payments get sold by the payment processing companies to data harvesters, including Google.

    • @kjpctech
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      62 years ago

      Same here. If I go to a house with a football game or tv show blasting, the next day I see news related to this. It is not something I have googled.

      • @[email protected]
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        32 years ago

        Did you have your location services turned on around other people who likely did google that kind of thing? Or connect to the wifi in that house that almost certainly put in a search or 2 for that game? Or people who were there that Google knows you interact with? Did they Google it? Or was it just a very popular thing that was huge in the zeitgeist that day for everyone? We are tracked in so many ways that don’t require them having to store and analyze literally every conversation that everyone has (Both sides of the convo as well!)

    • Iceblade
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      42 years ago

      deleted by creator

    • Refurbished Refurbisher
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      02 years ago

      If you disable the microphone, you would also need to disable the vibrator, speaker, and accelerometer, all of which can be used as makeshift microphones.

      • @Ogmios
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        2 years ago

        deleted by creator