You said it in front of your phone - now it comes up in your social/advertising feed

My best example of this is being over at a friend's house and just mention ing in passing some thing I need to get at the store or wanting to do some kind of project and then coming home to see it advertised on YouTube though my Roku. That would take Alexa recognizing my voice and routing the advertising through about a half dozen supposedly separate services to get the ad to me.

If it only happened once in a while I could chalk it up to "coincidence" (whatever that means) or good target marketing, but it happens far too often for that.

But the times it really raises an eyebrow is when I just think about something without even verbalizing it, and an ad will show up about it. Nick Redfern should write a book about that.

a reply to: network dude

I suspended my DirecTV account several weeks ago and use a Roku to watch The Curse of Oak Island once a week via my Exceed internet account. The rest of the time the power is off to my tv and Roku.
I would put my phone in a Mylar bag but that isn't practical.

I am wondering, if I put my phone into maximum power efficiency mode, does that disable spyware apps on my phone?


Have a talk radio station playing in the background to mask what you say or confuse spyware. Would that do any good?

originally posted by: CharlesT
a reply to: network dude

I suspended my DirecTV account several weeks ago and use a Roku to watch The Curse of Oak Island once a week

I must be nuts...I've been watching that every week for years...and I still look forward to it every week.
Don't get ads for it though.

With how "good" they're getting at this, here's our future:

ALL "smart" devices listen ALL of the time.
Its how they know when you ask them stuff.

Do they record ALL of the time,or do they only record key words?
I don't know but
The technolgy to do so is on all modern phones/pcs/tablets,there is no question.

Ever have siri/google assist just randomly start giving you info?
I have seen that many times-usually if there is a TV/radio on in the room,or if people are talking.

Without anyone asking for info,the assistant will start telling you info about stuff which may or may not have been on the TV/talked aout..
That is because the tech "mishears" a voice asking for info.

The point is,that proves the tech is always listening.

Its insidious technology with unlimited potential for abuse IMO.
Its like a classic psychiatric delusion has been turned into every day reality..


Patient:
"Well you see Doctor,I am feeling very concerned that there are these little machines that everyone carries around and are in every building,which are listening to us and taking notes.
Lots of people are making big money selling our recorded information,sometimes without telling us.
And nasty governments are using these machines to get around all of our pesky outdated freedom laws. "

Doctor:
"Hmm,yes.
I think I can see the problem-
It looks like you may be experiencing a bout of schizophrenia.
Don't worry,eat these pills."

a reply to: IAMTAT

Oak Island was the only program I truly missed after suspension and I get it free now. A week late but free.

a reply to: LanceCorvette

This happens a lot, has been for years......

Not sure we can do anything about it, except get rid of tech..

a reply to: AaarghZombies

Out of all the things about which to be in denial, why this one?

It’s not an urban myth, lol. Why in the world are you trying to convince yourself it’s an urban myth? There is zero reason to believe this stuff isn’t happening. It does. It’s probably even been admitted by the tech companies or intelligence agencies, at some point somewhere.

Why in the world are you fighting this one? Lol.

a reply to: SeektoUnderstand

Yea maybe only solution is to buy a non-smart phone and labtop without a mic/camera.

Smartphones are so useful in society that it's pretty hard to do. I think we all excepted that we are being spied on.

originally posted by: ketsuko
I did research on events and venues in different cities for my job when I was in the office. I was working on a separate computer at a different site.

I used to come home and have my computer ads populated with all kinds of obscure festivals, concerts, and art exhibits in museums all over the country ... everything I researched at work. So, yeah, the phone tracks you and links things. Conversely, when we were looking to buy a car, I was researching cars pretty intensively at home trying to angle for the best deal for our money, and my ads at work would be all cars.

I've also had an instance recently like you all are describing. I wish I remembered exactly what it was, but I do know it was creepy enough I remarked in it to my husband.

Do you ever use your personal email account or social media sites on your work computer?

There are settings on social media accounts allowing them to access your browser history. These settings can be controlled by users, but sometimes are difficult to find in the settings.

The most curious of cases I have experienced, is when I have been thinking of a certain thing, destination etc, and then something pops up in the ads of sites. I haven’t even mentioned the words or searched on sites, that is damn freaky.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

dude.... Edward Snowden. That is all

a reply to: LanceCorvette

Here's an episode from Cdn show Marketplace - been one of the most informative tv series since its inception back in the '70s, for consumers.

Here's an episode on what happens when one gets apps on their phones.. very telling (and in agreement what some posters here have said about the apps) When you agree to their t & cs, you're opening up a lot of invite to your phone, your info, all kinds of things:



Blueshift - and Cobaltic -- also agreed the freakiest is something you've recently only thought of, and it appears... deep well, there!

I guess if you had a Ted Kaczynski mentality you could have a dumb flip phone and take out any gps chip. Go to the library incognito and use the internet there under Pseudonym but that is pretty inconvenient

a reply to: Cobaltic1978

No. They monitored that stuff. It would have been wasting company time.

I can one-up that!

I was doing some simultaneous translation work once in a sound-proofed booth. The walls were lined with that egg-crate shaped acoustic insulation. I had my phone on and open, lying face-up on the desk so that I could quickly access my translation app if needed. The phone was right by the wall so the insulation was in view to the front-facing camera.

Never did a search for that kind of material, never talked about it, never entered my sphere of existence save for the fact that I physically stood next to it and the front of my phone had it in view.

Not two hours later I was at home, about to eat a meal, checked something on my phone and voilà, there they were; adverts for the exact type of acoustic insulation that I'd been standing next to.

Proved this to my teenagers over a year ago.

We have an old fashioned, sit-at-the-table family dinner at least once a week, regardless of schedules. Phones not usually allowed at the table. Caught teenboy with his. Had everyone talk with me about a “fly-in fishing in Canada.” Which is something I would never do, although I do fly fish...

Everyone had to say something glowing about how they individually wanted to go FLY-IN FISHING TO CANADA but we didn’t know where to stay and couldn’t afford it.

Needless to say, all our devices, all platforms, were inundated with plane trips to affordable Canadian getaways. For at least the next 6 months. Wife got an add on the anniversary of that conversation.

The kids got the point after that and were ok leaving their devices in the family room (homework are) instead if in their rooms at night.

originally posted by: Trueman
Keep it coming even if I don't buy anything.

Message to the fine people behind this, in event they're monitoring:

Any product that suspiciously pops up on any of my devices gets PERMANENTLY blacklisted. The last thing you're getting is my business.

Same with the ads that used to hijack you to the app store to download someone's stupid free app; you lost me for good just for doing it.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

Android has the possibility of using voice recognition for Google searches, and I had a work colleague that had an Android phone in which that option was always turning on by itself.

No need for dodgy apps installed, the official ones are dodgy enough.

a reply to: ketsuko

Another thing some people use, without even using their email, is logging in to their Google (for example) account and not logging off. That browser will stay logged in until they explicitly log off or until some cookie expires.

originally posted by: Zrtst
So couple of years ago this concept hit me. I had an old flip phone then, the 3 other guys that I was having breakfast with would just laugh about it. We were discussing vacation plans and one guy says he was going to take the ferry to Wisconsin from Ludington MI. Later that day I fired up the iPad and hopped on Facebook. There was an ad for the ferry. It wasn’t my phone they were listening to. How did they know I was there?

This stuff is significantly more advanced than many realize. Its not so much about individual phones, but about creating an audio/visual input field (surveillance) using any relevant devices in an area. Also somewhat known as the "Internet of Things."

Id wager this is just a general technique though. Very useful due to how pervasive phones and general smart devices are.. But with large gaps.

Wonder if they will start monitoring for coughs