I still find it crazy. I was watching a show with a friend that displayed where people were from and one guy was from Canada, specifically Alberta. Being Canadian myself, I had the legal requirement to point out another Canadian and said “Hey, that guy’s from Alberta!” To which my friend said “I’ve been to Alberta.” I replied “I haven’t.” That was that. A few minutes later he’s scrolling through social media and tells me he’s getting a bunch of tourism ads for travelling to Alberta. He thought it was funny but honestly that just creeps me out.
What if we had said something we didn’t want everyone to know? What if we were from a country where being gay was illegal, and we mentioned something gay in the presence of a phone, and now we’re flagged as gay by these companies. The government then demands consumer information from them and now they have a list of gay people. It sounds paranoid, but the current US government really shows how quickly things can go from being socially acceptable to criteria for being sent to a concentration camp.
Any of the people in here saying there’s no proof that apps access your microphone don’t understand that you don’t need microphone access to listen in. Something on your phone has mic access, so all an app needs is access to your RAM. If not your phone, your tv. Or any voice activated device nearby. Microphones are not ears, they can be significantly more sensitive.
Or an even simpler possibility, the companies are lying because there is no consequence.
I still find it crazy. I was watching a show with a friend that displayed where people were from and one guy was from Canada, specifically Alberta. Being Canadian myself, I had the legal requirement to point out another Canadian and said “Hey, that guy’s from Alberta!” To which my friend said “I’ve been to Alberta.” I replied “I haven’t.” That was that. A few minutes later he’s scrolling through social media and tells me he’s getting a bunch of tourism ads for travelling to Alberta. He thought it was funny but honestly that just creeps me out.
What if we had said something we didn’t want everyone to know? What if we were from a country where being gay was illegal, and we mentioned something gay in the presence of a phone, and now we’re flagged as gay by these companies. The government then demands consumer information from them and now they have a list of gay people. It sounds paranoid, but the current US government really shows how quickly things can go from being socially acceptable to criteria for being sent to a concentration camp.
Any of the people in here saying there’s no proof that apps access your microphone don’t understand that you don’t need microphone access to listen in. Something on your phone has mic access, so all an app needs is access to your RAM. If not your phone, your tv. Or any voice activated device nearby. Microphones are not ears, they can be significantly more sensitive.
Or an even simpler possibility, the companies are lying because there is no consequence.