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Ok, everybody knows we are being spied on by the corporations like Google, Meta, Microsoft etc. That's a pretty well-known fact and is generally accepted by the public. However, I started noticing some alarming facts recently: I am being offered stuff I mention while I'm on the phone. Then, I noticed they're offering stuff I mention while chatting with my family while the phone is located somewhere in the room.

Finally, what's really scary, today I was talking to someone (while my phone was nearby) regarding a car key. I started using my phone a bit later and I was shocked to find out there's an ad containing the very same Merc key we were discussing and I was holding in my hands! Then suddenly I realized this is not the first time something like that happens. Which means that the phone is listening? (recording?) to our conversations and possibly also filming the whole thing?

Can we discuss it? Perhaps I'm overreacting or being paranoid and there's a simple explanation for this?  ::) 

these corporations are smart, they do look at your search history. and they can come to some very smart conclusions

let me put a lil square of tinfoil on my head
samsungs own privacy terms website page:
https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/11/21/F9C2W.png
https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/11/21/F9Z5m.png
https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/11/21/F9SE1.png

when it says "samsung doesnt share with external parties" it does not say "samsung and samsungs business partners do not share with external parties"
it also doesnt say "samsung does not share with business partners"
so you can see how data does escape samsung servers by reading what it does not say

its that old lie families tell each other..
brother does something wrong like spy on the neighbours daughter and puts the evidence in sisters room. sister then uses it for other nafarious purposes that negatively affects neighbours daughter.. like sends picture to everyone at school
when confronted. the brother says "i didnt do it i dont send pics to classmates"

when certain phone services say they will record using phone mic "to learn when commands are triggered" and then they have other terms that say they "gather data to offer better service and improve features reliability". and then say they share gathered data with business partners..  join the dots

..
the best way to really test if your voice assistant is sending non voice command mic recording conversations in your proximity to external advertising businesses.. is to purposefully think up a couple of words completely unrelated to your life(things you wont search for on phone)
and have conversations near your phone multiple times for a few weeks

EG if you have no interest in history or animals and never search for them. specifically start talking about jurassic park franchise/merchandise
EG if you dont have kids. talk about baby clothes, toys, diapers, strollers,
EG if your young talk about retirement villages

Most people will think like that, assuming that their cell phone is eavesdropping on conversations or as if they are spying on them, and that kind of assumption is something that is normal, but I think that is too much, and it is true - sometimes it is by chance when we want an item or product. Often times advertisements for products and goods suddenly appear. And I think this can happen because sometimes when we want something, we often see reviews and explanations of the product via social media or search via web searches. And maybe that's what causes advertisements for the products we want to often appear on our cellphones.

And the exact reason why we get or see advertisements appear is that the advertisements seem to correlate with what we are talking about and what we want. This can happen because most technology and marketing companies work together to collect a number of people's personal and behavioral data.

I cannot find any record of search engines admitting to listening to our conversations but there are far too many occurrences of it happening and very distinct part of the world for it to be a mere coincidence.

When we understand that data is the prize and everyone is looking to get more and more of it to out-intrude their competitiors, when we do this we begin to break down the walls of limitation we put in place.
I have had cases were I randomly talked about an old friend to another old friend, and Facebook recommendsnthat exact friend to me. This is just one of many cases and it happens with regularity to indicate that voice data is being monitored and collected.

As much as those companies deny that level of surveillance, it has gotten to the point that it is too obvious this is the case and people are accepting this as fact, so what to do? If I am not mistaken there were some phones that were released that had the option to physically disconnect the camera or the microphone by flipping a small switch, but I do not think much success was had as the phone was too expensive and people were not willing to pay extra for this feature.

That is why it's essential to not give apps a lot of permissions such as recording and camera especially if that app won't even use those things for it to function. It's been known that Google, Meta, and Amazon use your device's recording capabilities to allow for a more personalized ads that you are more likely to be lured at. Ever wonder why companies pay Google big bucks to use their Google Analytics platform? There's a lot that these corporations can do because we allow them to, albeit unknowingly, of coursez since most of them are hidden in layers of text that a normal person won't likely read anyway.

I'm not a security expert, but from several videos on YouTube that I've seen, several IT experts who work for security say don't just give permission (when installing the application) to record conversations and audio, sometimes malware can infiltrate from there, they also say that If you suspect that your smartphone has been infiltrated by malware then you can see that one of the symptoms is that your cellphone battery runs out quickly, that's because the installed malware APK is constantly active, there are also some security experts who say just use Huawei because it's safer than American products, I not so sure, we must be able to protect our privacy as best as possible, don't just activate the internet on your smartphone when you are using your smartphone for personal activities.

You are not overreacting but this is how the algorithm goes when they've heard some specific brands, they're going to send you a blast off of those ads that are related to the brand or product/services that you've mentioned. Actually, there have been a lot of memes about this and if you a regular tech guy that understands this, you'd definitely expect to see food ads just after speaking about your favorite tacos, pizzas, etc. We use their services and platforms for free and if things are for free then you must be aware that we're their products being sold to their advertisers. This is how it goes and became a norm, if you don't want to get into these algorithms being done to your phone and to your accounts in social medias and search engines, much better not to use the internet. Because if you're aware of cookies, the internet cookies, then that's just one of the many that they're doing to all of their users and that's how they make money from advertisers and users that enjoys their platforms. What I do, I reject those cookie permissions, disabling recording if they ask to and even putting some blockage to my front camera which is common to laptops.

Is this anything new though?
I'm pretty sure that we've know for a long time that free services such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube ande ven Google etc. make bank on selling our data to advertisers.

The more successful these corporations are at targeting you with ads right on your interests, the more likely it is they'll be picked by those being advertised.
So keep this in mind next time you sign up to another website.

Thankfully, GDPR kind of helps in this regard. Allowing people to delete their accounts and recall all their data along with any permissions they might have given in the past helps restore some balance in terms of privacy.
But most people will be tempted to actually ask for their account deletion on big platforms, as it would also require an account deletion and these platforms are kind of monopolizing access to their info sadly.

That's the most terrifying part: no brands or exact models or names were mentioned. My guess is that my phone scanned the area around it and located the phone of the other person, identified him and his car. The car was identified correctly as Mercedes has at least 3-4 different key types and the ad on my phone suggested the EXACT key I held in my hands. That's not a coincidence. This is some next level spying.

As much as privacy is concern, but the moment we decide to use these smart phones, note that it has its connection to an app store. It has its monitoring device that keep us tracked, so the more we tend to use it, the higher chances that our actions and responses are being in controlled or monitored by them. Even if we disable these location services or remove these unnecessary apps, that will not guarantee that we are still not monitored by them.

For me, the best option is to turn off your phone when you are conversing or making an important transaction. That is the best way not to indulge your own privacy.

You consented to that somewhat. There is an app there somewhere that you agreed to the terms and conditions. Either that or some app on your phone is actively recording whatever is happening on your phone's surroundings to push you ads that are based onnthe conversation it picked up. It's nothing new, that's why in shopping apps, I disable the camera and microphone access, because it's weird for an app to request for those even when they do not need the functionalities given by those parts of your phone.

while it is true that most companies track your activities in your phone, it might be reaching to say that your phone was listening

it could’ve been just a coincidence and most likely it is
a lot of people agree on things they don’t even understand especially on the internet most people don’t even read terms & conditions before clicking accept or choosing to accept cookies in a website anyway the point is all apps have some kind of system where it can see you and what you like or what you dislike sometimes this proves useful as it allows you to curate your feed but sometimes it gives you more ways to spend (advertising)

Your doubts are valid, and I am almost certain that we all have doubts about the ability of these applications to obtain these powers. The serious matter is the continued denial of those companies that develop social applications, along with the manufacturers of phone devices.
Honestly, I am not surprised that they dare to continue violating more user privacy, especially with the complicity of the competent state agencies in monitoring these companies. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done about these serious violations if users want to continue using applications produced by these companies.

Why don't you it test then? Try to see what features are enabled and what apps are installed, then try to mention some brand or whatever you like. After that, you can disable one after another to see if things stay the same or if you're just being paranoid. Who knows, maybe you can find which apps are eavesdropping or if your phone is just recording everything even though you turned off the mic. I honestly doubt the latter though, since if that's the case the company can smell a lawsuit incoming.

As far as I can tell, search results or your activity is likely the culprit for targeted ads like this. Most company is not that shameless as of now. I can't replicate your issue either. But yeah, it is best to be aware that your privacy is always at risk and just turn off any feature that you don't need.

I also have a somewhat similar experience. But mine is about search suggestions. My curiosity was piqued a few times because after mentioning something and decided to search for it right after, after typing just a letter or two, the exact word that you pronounced is suggested.

I've even shared it with others to also know their reactions and hear their opinions. I'm not sure if I'm also being paranoid but many of those to whom I shared my experience brushed it off as simply coincidence, paranoia on my part, too much thinking about being spied on, algorithm thing, and so on.

But I'm not completely convinced. I think our gadgets are listening to us to a certain extent. If the cameras are spying on us, why can't the mic? And this isn't just plain imagination. Those who have known it by being part of it themselves like Snowden confirm it.

The safe assumption is that "they are always listening" whatever the situation is whether you are in an event, a car, or sleeping, as long as it has battery, they would always be in that aspect.

I think it's pretty much automated with the keywords and once they have detected the tone and word that you are saying, the ads would be able to be tailor-fit to you and that's probably why it was offered to you exactly as it is. Usually, that's the activity tracking you that you might have accepted or something. In iPhones, usually, you accept or decline an app to track. It's probably similar to that.

What I'm not sure of is whether or not it's really "recording" or just waiting for keywords.

Let's start from the basics, Android or iOS have a feature to check when was the last time your microphone or camera was used and what is the application requesting it. Go look for it, if those things are always readily activated, then it is a bad sign. You should never automatically accept those two things to run in the background. Furthermore, if you don't excessively use Siri or other personal assistants, you should deactivate its features.

After that, if you still do not believe that feature to tell you the truth, well you should throw away the phone all along. The phone is a noisy data and metadata producer about its owner.

Don't know that they are spying on our conversations or chats, so far I only know that every time we search on a search engine they will record that is why we often get advertisements related to our searches, there are many ways to avoid this on YouTube or Google and I don't know for sure how effective this method is because I haven't tried it and prefer to be more careful in giving permission to the applications I install on my Android.

That's the point, people give all the permissions without looking at the apps and then are surprised because things like the OP describes happen.

Guys, let's see if you get this straight, the big business of the 21st century is neither RE nor guns nor drugs as in the 20th, it's Big Data. That is why it is more important than ever to take care of privacy in your phone use, paying with cash and using bitcoin taking care of privacy to the maximum.

There is an algorithm term on YouTube and usually videos will be given according to our interests in watching on a scale. At first I didn't understand why every time I controlled children on social media platforms they always saw the same behavior and it turns out that's how YouTube works. In fact, we are like being watched amidst the sophistication of technology and there are many bad impacts when someone doesn't understand it and therefore we are the biggest control that can monitor ourselves. The security level of using social media amidst the sophistication of technology cannot be understood by the layman because it can have a bad impact on us personally or those closest to us.

I'm sure you understand how it works and how this situation is observed by many eyes and when you are careless then that's where they come in to do things we don't want. It's best to be careful and wise in using it to avoid problems and protect yourself and don't do things that can have a negative impact on us because that's all we can do amidst today's technological sophistication.

Maybe Because we live in different parts of the world and our technological advancement differs because some parts of the world lag far behind the most advanced countries in terms of technology advancement, network, and phone gadgets, perhaps that is why you are experiencing this; however, I believe you 100% that it can happen because we fully trust our devices these days without caring about how our privacy might be leaked.

My phone does track some of my activities in the search engine, meaning that whenever I am searching for something, it either completes my sentence for me or gives me my desired result before completing my sentence or request, which to me is normal because we do have AI now that does more than search engines.

But using voice spying is something I have never experienced. I never noticed my phone using my voice or my conversation to show me something similar to my request, which is why I am saying that it might be your type of phone or the command you give your phone.

All the apps have their own terms and conditions, and when first launching the app we all agree on that though 99 people out of 100 don't actually read what's written there. All these apps that are available on google play actually track our usage history and share it with our business partners. Most of their terms and conditions say they won't share user data with third parties but there isn't any mention of their business partner. There is an obvious reason why you are seeing those ads in the first place. Also try to give as little permission as you can to the application you are using on your phone because they are the source of the information that those companies get about us.

Corporations are doing deep spying so I think it is important for us to be careful before using apps. While logging in any app from google play store it gives various information these should be installed later they are easy to track if many users don't wear them properly. Sometimes apps are applications created by external developers on the platform and are not owned by it. When you connect a third party app to your account you give that app access to use your account an authorized app may be able to collect and use information from your account in different ways depending on its permissions. You should be careful if you don't feel comfortable giving an app access to your account only cancel on the authorization page to deny the app access.

I'm pretty sure it's not a coincidence. I have experienced something similar before, just didn't pay attention. I have used both Android and IOS it doesn't matter really. Whatever I mention in my conversation: car tyres, dog food or Bitcoin, targeted ads appear every time. And note I wasn't googling these items.

Yes, perhaps it was my fault by giving access to these apps but when you're installing Instagram for example, you kind of expect it will ask for camera permissions right?

Is our privacy only a show? First, it's true that companies like Google and Meta use complex algorithms to make ads more relevant to each person. It's too much of a jump to assume direct listening, though. Often, it's about connecting pieces of information, like your browsing past, where you are, or even the way you type. Still, what you said sounds very strange, doesn't it?

The legal and moral line is the second thing to think about. Even though companies have rules against recording without permission, technology isn't always accurate. This could be caused by software bugs or functions that weren't meant to be there. Even so, it's important to stay aware and watchful. Change the privacy settings, pay attention to what apps can do, and maybe, just maybe, don't have private talks on your phone. Finding the right mix between privacy and ease of use in this connected world is important

Yes, I know that the OP's experience is actually experienced by many other people. I personally had almost the same experience with my phone. But I personally don't have assumptions as far as the OP conveys. Because listening to our conversation feels too surprising. But I found a case where all the things we typed into a search engine, be it Google search engines, online shops, social media and all things connected to the internet, then a few minutes later related news would appear that was exactly what we were looking for before. or related to each other. starting from the products that can be purchased and other things. Basically, all applications that display advertisements from G**gle A****e seem to display the same advertisements which are tailored to our interests taken from our search history on the internet. Sometimes it's quite annoying but sometimes it's also quite helpful. And actually, if we install an application, before we give permission and install it, we have to read their terms and conditions. and when we read it, we definitely don't want to continue installing the application. Because basically when we install an application, we automatically agree to their terms and conditions. In fact, some Gallery applications have been given permission by ourselves to view and change the data on our cellphones. So it is not surprising that all advertisements sometimes become very relevant or exactly what we want. Because that is the goal and method of marketing they do.

These big tech companies have denied that they are not listening to our conversation but I think they are not telling the truth. I did a brief search online and discovered that OP is not alone in his observation.
Zoe Kleinman (https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35639549) a BBC Technology Reporter also had the same concern.There is also a thread in Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkEnlightenment/comments/d94wii/comment/f1frnlf/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) that is discussing the same observation. Another source also reported that four years ago about 1000 Google Assistant (https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2019/07/10/google-employees-are-eavesdropping-even-in-flemish-living-rooms/) harvested voice recordings collected from Android phones were leaked to a Belgium media house.

I have not experienced this issue maybe because I have not paid attention to my conversation and the ads I see. This is a clear indication that we can only do our best to maintain our privacy but we might not be able to stop these firms from invading it because they have eyes and ears everywhere around us.

Everyone blames software products for spying, and this is a fact, but I see that the hardware is responsible for opening many backdoors that may lead to doing things without giving them permissions. Therefore, if you are concerned, start using a phone that does not connect to the Internet and restrict Internet access to your phone, while placing it in a soundproof place. And cover the phone camera before using it, otherwise anything is possible.

Indeed, but there is a catch, you can control on what condition the application would be able to access it. Generally, most applications do ask some permission, the problem is some people just blindly accept whatever they get asked, and that is the problem in case the app functions as an invasive application that breaches your own privacy.

Both Android and iOS have a feature to limitate the permission of any given application.

Take a look here:
https://support.apple.com/en-sg/guide/iphone/iph251e92810/ios
https://support.google.com/android/answer/9431959?hl=en

The general idea is to give permission only when you use the application and reject any permission request that isn't related to the application. For example, a calendar application requesting a camera or location.

The truth is that user data is always exploited and served for research purposes.
The control of large corporations over user data may not have been taken seriously in the past. But over time, when people become aware of personal data security, people will express many questions to technology corporations.
I remember that in the past, the google advertising algorithm was very simple, but now just a few small suggestions that the surrounding things have connected themselves, the achievement of technology. But anyway, there is a need for guidance if we really trust each other about things that are created purely to serve humans. And maybe we should look back a little more broadly, when the problems that are appearing are all easily forced upon each other by ourselves.

Dude, you're years too late about this stuff, Snowden leaked that NSA is listening to our phone calls and this didn't stopped the US government from continuing that program so who knows how powerful their surveillance system now is? Pretty sure that they're much more powerful now and more sneakier than ever. It should never come as a surprise to everyone that our government is spying on us so the best thing that we can do is just scream expletives about them because they can hear us anyway, might as well let them hear what we feel about them listening to us right?

  Sometimes we tend to see ad pop ups on our phones. Most tech people will say the ad we see displays as a result of our frequent surf through the net in the sense that whatever we surf on the web, we tend to be getting ads of stuffs related or similar to them and it's true. If you've not observed it, then start now to observe it.
  No doubt technology is evolving and our digital devices are built up in an advancing way to start acting like us. Do not be surprised that in years to come, a whole lot of things will be set up and carried out by robots. It's crazy thinking about the fact that your mobile phone actually has your activities embedded in it. Yes technology can cause a whole lot to happen so we should even expect more. It's all fascinating but too much of it is definitely threatening to be bad but what can we do there than just to watch the advancement.

I agree even though I've been thinking about this for a long time I can't get a satisfactory answer. Why do our smartphones seem to know what we need? I don't know if it might be from our previous forgotten search on Google or if it was spied on. I think the way to explain it is a little complicated but we can all really understand it. I will not deny that it is proven to be spied on by today sophisticated technology. But to think further it could be really scary if that happened.

that all this time...   >:(

You are not overreacting or being paranoid instead things are really getting out of our hands and yeah I do agree with you that they listen to our voices and that's not new because I knew this for a very long time due to my uncle as he used to explore these things more than I do so when he shared this information with me I did not believe but on trying it I believed. But he also shared a way to stop this feed of ads based on our interests but after trying it did not work well for me (I am mainly talking about FB).

The only thing that came to mind is, that we can turn off the audio permissions that we have given to these corporations spying on us on our smartphones, maybe that will work for you but as a student of technology, I can say spying/eavesdropping is easy for them even we disable the audio permissions. All we can do is ignore this fact, or remove all the setting and extra permissions that we have given to these apps even to the google apps.

Check all of the apps installed to your phone and go to your settings and see what are the permissions your phone allowed to these apps automatically.

You can modify it since it is on your phone so you better explore and read more information about allowing apps on your phones and stuff about the permissions you are granting on them.

It might work and also turn off as well the camera permission. But I am not just sure if they will have a way to turn it on again through updates.

Let's not mix apples and oranges. I too am aware of governments listening, I was aware of Google/Apple etc spying using search history for example. But this is something new, it only appeared recently. I'm starting to suspect they're using some kind of AI (AdGPT?  ;D) to collect data (via mic and possibly camera), process it and deliver ads based on this data. The thing is that it's illegal and most people are clueless what's going on in their phones. 

There's a reason why in an interview where we could see Zuck's laptop, he had a piece of duct tape over it. I doubt that he was worried about being hacked ;) I'm not even going to start about that problem with Amazon Alexa

Amazon will fork over $30m in fines for multiple privacy violations, including allowing Ring employees to spy on customers, creating a security atmosphere ripe for hackers, and illegally keeping Alexa recordings of children’s voices.
https://cybernews.com/privacy/amazon-30m-fine-ring-spying-alexa-child-privacy-violations/

I'm sure most of us had this happened that we'd talk about buying something, open google and that exact thing would appear in a popup window with a discount... It could be a coincidence, but how many of you guys get a diesel power generator ads, or windshield wipers for your car. Some of these are pretty specific.

It's agreeably the way the world works right now, having to receive pop ups with ads on our search history and desires, having to get notifications that give detailed description in line with our last or latest purchases. To crown it all up, the introduction of AI technology to the society has more than given a free hand to the infringement on individual privacy and with regulators breathing down the neck of Crypto exchanges, it's quite a difficult scenerio to try and evade the spy programs and software that run seamlessly on our devices for which we have no control over.

We are indeed the product and the best way to be on top is to either avoid the use of internet or to design suitable software to ensure our maximum privacy from all running spyware on our devices. Best bet this days is to use antivirus and antispy wares.

Literally impossible if he/she had speaking with someone with a new stuff or he/she havent been able to input those information or certain stuff like searching on google or whatever that correlated into that certain product
before he/she did make a call in someone. It is really just that impossible to think that if ever you have spoke up to someone then suddenly those recommendation pops up?
If you havent been able to search up or mention it out into your mobile phone then this one would really be able to freak you out and could raise up those kind of question.

Its not really that shocking anymore that these companies or corporations is really that serious on trying to track everything on which their potential customers that they are seeking on such product.
On todays technological advancement then it would really be that too easy in speaking about accessibility but of course if theres Pro's then there would be always
a con's into it. So its not really that shocking anymore.

Yeah this is scary, I was talking to my wife about certain thing on consecutive days and then I see something related to that pops up on my Google Chrome, they even have voice detection I belive and we are being spied upon big time, right from our browsing history to shopping cart to the genre of videos we watch on YouTube until the places we visit.

We need to understand that if we are getting something for free, it mean we are the product and same game is played with us by big companies like Google, Amazon, YouTube, Meta.

You are right it will work but only to some extent because every app you are using somehow becomes a part of your life, for example, Google map for travelers, Food Panda for food, OYO app for hotels, VPNs for changing locations, Browsers for different profiles, games to enjoy the time, etc., etc. These names come to my mind due to various factors, like ads, usage, etc. but your location has to do a lot with the usage of the app.

For example, if we are not depending on an app it does not mean people living in the UK or the US might be using that app because that same app has extra features abled to them but these extra features come with a price, that price is of privacy and these extra features apps are connected with each other in a manner that if you will remove one's permission other will start to malfunction.

That's why we can't remain safe from these ads and can't get full privacy with these smartphones even if we disable the permissions they are feeding data.

This is not too excessive, because sometimes the placement of advertisements often coincides with what we are thinking and what we are talking about, so this gives rise to suspicion, is our cellphone really being tapped?

And what actually happens is that our cellphones are not tapped, but instead you are a social media algorithm system that tries to collect user data and monitor and collect things that its users like. And the results of this algorithm system analysis will later be presented to each user based on what they like. And this is done because currently social media is supported by advertising, so social media is designed to benefit advertisers, not users.
And that can happen, indeed often when we want something we often look for that thing on social media.

This has already been discussed many years ago. I am unable to find it right now so I can't provide the source link but I can share the summary of that topic. They are listening, they are tracking every move and whatever you say. If you are using Apple devices then most likely your privacy is secure, because they strictly focus on security. But that doesn't mean that they themselves are not listening. From what I know, every Apple devices has a built-in AI functionality which listens to your conversation and then use that algorithm to find something on the internet that matches your conversation. By doing this, your privacy and data does not get leaked. I don't know what goes inside the company, but this is what they have disclosed to the people.

As for Android, you are using the operating system provided by Google itself and they are always collecting data from you. They are also listening and watching. I don't know how secure these devices are. That topic was about using custom OS and not using the one provided by Google. There are open sources OS created by people which helps you control the default permission provided by Google and change it. Best alternative for this is MicroG. Then again, they are not 100% secure. But using custom OS is a bit more secure than using Apple devices or iOS.

So the point is, do not use whatever is provided by company itself. Try to find alternative that are more secure than the default one. Also, you can disable many permissions from your default operating system if you look for it in the settings. That prevents individual apps from accessing your data but not from Google itself. So if you want total security from everything then custom OS is the best choice. Do your own search before using. I might be wrong so I don't want to be accountable for anything happening to you.

I'm aware that big corporations steal data under the falsehood that they want to improve their services to end-users, and they end up selling it to big businesses. They collect our data directly by asking or indirectly by tracking us through ip address, browsing history, purchasing activity etc. With the advancement in technology anything is possible and these guys can take their data theft to a whole new level by listening to our conversation through smart devices. So op I don't think you're being over reactive, this shit could be real.

This has been true for 20+ years, why does it suddenly make sense in the end at nearly during a time we are so close to 2024? I mean from facebook to myspace, they all sold ads, and allowed us to be the user for free, which meant that the income they had was purely from selling us as the product to the people who gave ads, that was literally the case 20+ years ago, its really nothing new. I mean I get that its getting more and more common, but that's fine, its really not a big deal because it allows us to use some products for free. Not that I mind about seeing ads, I have ad blocker anyway so I do not really see all that many ads, and I am fine being the product.

I guess this is what the world and tech has turned into right now. It is all about data data and data. Humans or consumers of tech products are just participants in a huge experiments going on and the data is being gathered and analysed by the research and development department of these corporations who have paid big money for this. While it is true that you can turn off permissions to camera and microphone on your phone when downloading an app it may not be possible for those who live in smart houses , or use cars that my have internet connectivity.

My question is: did you read my posts above? I never searched any of that stuff online. I don't want and I don't own the car or the key, I haven't searched it online. And yet I was offered to buy it.

At this point I guess it's pretty clear that they ARE listening and there's some kind of AI processing this info and suggests the ads.


I wonder how is it possible if we're talking about IOS?

You're not overreacting or being paranoid. I've had countless "coincidences" (not really coincidences) where what is mentioned in conversation is either appearing on my, or a friend/family member's point of advertising after conversation. It's happened so many times that it's proven rather than conspiracy at this stage (mostly IOS in recallable circumstances)

If you want to confirm it yourself, pick a random, advertiseable product and repeat it in a conversation form, I am sure you will see shortly after that your google ads, Facebook feed, or whatever targets you primarily for advertising will start to show results relating to it.

For example...
"I am really considering catching a flight to the Antarctic to see penguins but I can't find out if that's possible"
"I am really wondering if I can go and walk with penguins in the Antarctic"
"I would pay any amount of money to go and see penguins somewhere, I've never seen one before!"
"I wonder if I can pay someone to pet a penguin"

You can be sure that saying the above a few times in either conversation or just in a room where your phone also sits, that you'll start seeing ads relating to any of the following shortly after or over the coming days:
- Visiting penguins
- Flights to the Antarctic or tours there
- A zoo that has penguins

Zoo, flights and penguins are not standard advertisements...so if they come up, you can be sure that the ad was targeted because of what you said.

Try it and report back with results ;)

You're not overreacting or paranoid. It is an honest fact.
Anyone who is still using Google, Meta, Microsoft, iPhone, and Android phones will always be spied on by this giant tech organization. However, ever since Elon Musk made a statement about the Fed paying some certain fund to acquire some information from social media platform I am starting to believe the Fed fully understand what this tech giant is doing and they are using it as a weapon.

Well, those technologies you mentioned are improving every day, and they will definitely be working on some other projects from the inside that they have not brought to the public, and it could be possible that some of the apps we use on our phones have the possibility of allowing the phone to record things. For example, if you want to search for something on Google, you can actually use voice to say what you want to search for, and you will exactly get the results for what you have asked for. That's one reason for me to believe that some of the apps we have on our phones might be listening to some key words we say, and when we are browsing, they show results or adds based on the data they have gathered. Just my opinion.

It's been happening for a long time already. Governments and powerful countries as much as possible try to get all the information they want for current and future purposes. Products from China and the US have the highest chance of spying capabilities. Maybe Russian products as well but it seems like they are technologically behind compared to others. This is why I prefer Japanese, South Korean, and Taiwanese products.

But as long as we are living as good citizens and not hiding anything illegal then the less we have to worry about spying.

That's what the NSA has been doing already and it's not really a certainty that the government and these companies aren't conspiring to collect the data, I mean it's not far fetch to think so right? That the government can have the share on the data collected and in exchange they will allow this as long as they are involved so there's no possibility that the other countries might do the spying on their people. Regarding the targeted ads, I can't vouch for the listening but most platforms have a code or algorithm written that will check the users visits in pages or interests or something like, make sure to not allow cookies when you are visiting a website because that's another way that they can track you and target you with the specific ads.

It looks like what @OP said is true. When we use a tool or device, there are companies like Google, Microsoft and others who are watching us and providing their offerings. This is where we have to be careful and wait to decide to buy it before we know what the benefits are for us.

You're not exaggerating on this, @OP, because we experience it too. Even though our situations are often different, the essence is still the same, as you said. For this reason, if we want to install or use something, we have to look for more information. This is to prevent us from becoming promotion targets from unclear companies.

Before the internet spread and developed as it is now, these companies were already developing applications. And when we download it, they will immediately be able to get the data. And they can use this data for their benefit. And whoever can hold the data and control it will control the market.

It's not something new nor surprising actually. This fact has been circulating in social media for a long time. That if you're not paying for anything, then you are the product. Simple as that. And I think it's easy to understand cause how come a business who ain't selling anything will earn their profit? Afaik these businesses uses the information of their users for ads. Most commonly, they earn through ads and such. That's why when we search something, we usually get an ad related to that product after.

I dont know if i do have noticed this one or just simply that missed out on having that kind of recommendation after you have some conversation which you are really that near with your phone and suddenly those things that you've been mentioning turns out on getting heard of on which recommendations pop out like magic. I might try this one if ever it did really make out such action because it is really just that too impossible that
these recommendations would pop up since you arent really making some searches into your device on which it would really be that something understandable but we've mentioned out as if our phones does have some
ears then it is really that quite alarming.Im not really that shocked though about monitoring or something but in the extent that even we arent been using our phones as it seems like they do have ears on what
we are saying or what are the things that we are really mentioning.

I would come back and tell if this one really becomes real or something that really works. If it does then it would really be alarming and i might really be that
taking my phone too far when conversing someone about. I dont really like for everything would really be heard of.

They don't call this spying, but it's a way for them to improve advertising metrics and provide their clients with better services when it comes to targeted ads, and, they say they have the right to do that because you give them permission for it without bothering to read their terms of use and everything else and also agree for them to use your phone's functions when the app is running in the background without even realizing what we are allowing them to do.

So, if we want Google Assistant, Alexa, Siri, or any other AI-powered voice assistance apps to provide us the convenience of doing things that we just speak without touching our phone, I guess they will have their ears open all the time which means that anything we say, as long as the device is on a hearable distance, is heard by the device and whatever is directed to it is responded to and whatever isn't is processed and saved for the purpose of targeted advertisement because they filter the keywords heard and provide personalized ads based on that.

That is the price we have to pay them when using their products. Are you using a free facebook, gmail, outlook account and you ask them not to track anything about you? If it were you, would you be willing to create free products and applications to provide to everyone and not ask them for anything? So we don't need to be careful and we can't do anything else to change that if we still use their products.

I've known this for a long time, but because I still depend on their products, I'm willing to pay the price. The only way is to stop using the phone, stop using social networks, email... we will no longer be tracked.

I exactly agree with your statement, using their application obviously would give them access to your data and information, if you are using the legal and licensed app for sure they wouldn't use it against you like blackmailing and leaking, but if you are using apps that are illegal for sure these cases are possible, worse is they might be criminals and stalkers would go to in front of your house.

For sure they can gather the information they might record your history like for the marketplace online, therefore they would give you advertisements and recommend similar items from what you have searched.  By simply using a delivery app they could already track your locations could already alarming, but yeah that is the trade you would get by using their product or app, they can email you advertisements, announcements etc.

All social media platforms that we use free of charge earn money through advertising revenues and unfortunately the users become an asset of these platforms in order to benefit from these services for free. Not only social media applications but almost all applications&games we install on our devices require microphone, camera, photo archive and similar access in order to provide the best advertising experience. Of course, the advertising experience I'm talking about here is for advertisers, not for us as users.

Although it is said that data security is important today and we don't want our data to be used in many applications. The contracts we sign without reading, the permissions we give to applications to access our device after installing them and the fact that we allow applications to track us are actually the price we pay to benefit from that service. And, unfortunately, we have to accept all this as mandatory in order to use these applications for free.

Unfortunately, this will be the case as long as advertising revenue continues to be so important for the survival of these applications. Even though we think we use these applications for free, unfortunately we pay a fee for using our own information and we will continue to do so.

I am not entirely sure if it's true, I do not have any data to point something like that, but I can definitely tell you that it has happened to me as well. This doesn't mean that we are being listened because it could very well be coincidence as well but that doesn't mean that we are just having these type of things at all times.

I mean it would be quite dangerous for a company to listen to your conversation, even if not like with literally a person, they do not have people around the world listening to your stuff lol, but they do probably have some machines with keywords and when they hear those keywords they may send some ads, and that might be true but that's a HUGE trouble, if unearthed and proven, they could be sued for their entire worth and bankrupt. This is why I honestly think that even though it has happened to me as well and it's not impossible, we are talking about a situation that has to be quite important to have some better judgement.

I  noticed this way back in 2019. After having a conversation with my colleagues at work about a certain item we should get, I went online to do a few stuff and hey! Different brands of the items we talked about were displayed as ads. This broadened my curiosity,  how do they get this information?

Seeing this again on this platform and with the similar experiences from different people, it is obvious we are being  spied on! Come to think of it, what were we expecting when we ignorantly agree to terms and conditions that grant permissions to Applications to have access to our calls, messages, galleries and others on our devices? As long as we keep granting permissions, nothing changes.

Good suggestion, I think I will try this. But IMHO the keywords should be somewhat more down-to-earth so there's a match in their AI system (if one exists). Because if no one is offering tours to the Antarctic in my area there will can be no match and no ad will be delivered. I will try to think of something more realistic which could trigger the ads.

Corporations are in a way indeed spying on us. But not on some V for Vendetta or whatever sinister bs like what some people think these companies do. For the most part, the information that you willingly give out to their websites and social media channels in the form of cookies (trackers) are sent to them, and are being gauged to better align your ad algorithms with the products that they can give out. Meaning you get targeted ads for products that you're either interested about for a very long time now, or are just thinking on a whim.

Now, are there spies on the internet that are doing far more sinister things? For sure, some CCTV cameras with bluetooth and wifi functionality are easily trackable with a simple key strokes and google searches, not to mention governnments spying on their citizens as well, like the FBI meme but real and far more scary. Now those are the things that you actually should be afraid of.

It can be said that we will have no way to avoid them eavesdropping and collecting our information because that is the way for them to generate income and create products that they call providing us for free. And you are right, the only thing we can do is to avoid using unofficial apps and illegal apps to avoid unwanted problems. As for official apps, we should feel completely secure when using them and of course, they are collecting our information and we should accept that.

There is nothing surprising or unexpected here. Devices collect all the information that is available to them, directly or indirectly interacting with you. If previously this was limited only to your search queries, now everything that can be received from the user gets there, including voice processing, because devices that are excellent in terms of performance have appeared, as well as equally high-tech solutions for voice recognition. This all then turns into a set of data, your “consumer portrait”, for more accurate search and delivery of advertising to you, for maximum conversion. Moreover, no one seems to be hiding this (if you CAREFULLY and COMPLETELY read the end-user license agreement, you will learn a lot of interesting things), although it does not openly say “we will listen to your microphone” but is veiledly presented as “all the information collected about you.”

The real problem is if this data is personalized, tied to the real data of the person and can be used not only for advertising and not only by the platform owners... I think if the information that a certain company (Let there be Hoogle) comes to light, then the Hoogle company will simply be torn apart in the courts into small particles and it will simply cease to exist due to total bankruptcy...

That's why there are content creators that are making fun of these spying apps and devices. Like for China, the brands that they have for Huawei, Xiaomi, ZTE, and other known brands came from them. There's always a debate not to use them but why not when most of the manufacturers of devices are found there.

We don't know what they inject into their chipsets what they are using to program it and the contents of it. That's why we're no way out from these spying and just disable like the suggestions of the other members here the microphone you have and don't forget that you're always located even by Google, even our moves from streets to streets.

We are their products, they track us anytime, they know where we can be found and what we like.

You're probably right and a very fair point. I am sure you can come up with something just as random, but a bit more realistic for there to be an advertisement for.


Like serveria said, you might have more luck with something a bit more realistic. This was just a very "out there" thing that I could come up with from the top of my head.

I know that for a fact it will definitely work with iOS and Facebook newsfeed, of course, on a standard phone where settings are not hardened and blocks are not in place to ensure that this doesn't work (if there is anything like that, not sure). I am not sure about android.

Strange, to be honest, I thought they were only tracking and giving results according to what you were typing in search engines and browsers, meta and google have partnered to share data with each-other but couldn't imagine if they were so rude.

Do you think they are frank when you disallow them to access your mic and camera? I think that is just a formal part which gives you a false sense of security. They spy on you anyways, doesn't matter what you allow or disallow them.

You are not imagining it, these companies are definitely recording and monitoring people's discussions. I sometimes test this and I discuss something on purpose and like you said... within an hour or two... ads will pop up.. based on what we discussed. (try talking about Solar and see what happens)

This is not done by humans, AI are definitely behind this ..so it is not mass surveillance, but rather targeted marketing. I guess they have to use something that will generate an income for all those services we are getting for FREE.  ::) ::)

I agree more with what you are talking about, where what we search for will provide results to search engines in browsers, Google or other media. This means that what we see, the machine will give similar commands and this action is not rude in my opinion because of the how the algorithm works found in the current media.

Without spying, they can still access our data, especially when registering, you are required to do KYC. So at this stage we have to understand that to maintain the level of security we have to be the ones to guard it because they will easily steal whatever they want even without spying or asking the user for permission. There are many frauds not carried out by application developers, but by third parties who try to take advantage of people who do not understand how the system works.

Exactly, this is what I'm talking about. But we're not getting anything for free anyway. Youtube is full of ads, you launch some playlist and literally forget what the last song/video was! It's not rare to see 5-6 ads in between the playlist items. FB is also plagued with ads, Instagram a bit less but also increasing. Google sometimes has more sponsored listings than organic nowadays. So, these guys are earning BILLIONS but it seems they can't have enough.

Today, something even scarier happened: I'm starting a new business venture and I was briefly operating a machine used to manufacture some goods. My phone was in my pocket and I was alone in the room. Then I saw the machine had a defective part. I stopped it and eventually left the premises and forgot about it. You can't imagine how surprised I was when I fired up ebay app on my phone and the first suggestion was the exact part which malfunctioned earlier that day! What kind of black magic is that? FFS I didn't even know what it's called until I saw it selling on ebay!    

In fact, this has already been discussed in a forum related to user privacy and it is clear that if you agree to an application accessing your memory card, your calls and also your audio then they will definitely collect all your search data and interests so far, application developers actually aim to make more money by placing advertisements on their apk, because only that way they can have more income than just expecting from VIP users.  As long as you don't search for items or things you are interested in in your smartphone browser and don't give random permission to the applications you install, your privacy is safe and you won't be able to be tracked.

I feel like I live in a world where everything we do is tracked. Google knows what I'm talking to my wife about, Amazon knows what I'm shopping for, and YouTube knows what I'm watching. I don't know if I should feel like I'm being watched or just a number in a crowd. But I know I don't like that.

Although I know that I cannot completely eliminate being tracked. But I can try to limit the sharing of my personal information and use privacy protections. I can also try to raise awareness of this issue and urge companies to change the way they use our data.

I read all the comments on this topic and noticed that all the commentators complain about these practices that most applications on the Internet follow. But at the same time, they do not offer alternatives if we want to establish an Internet that maintains privacy while providing an enjoyable browsing experience, as is happening today.
Also, users can limit this close monitoring by changing their browsing behavior by verifying the information that is shared with any application and avoiding using unknown applications.

Well, I think people are already aware of the Internet especially when it comes to using websites or applications that could contain your data and private information. As I said, it's normal for them to gather your data as you are one of their users, and as a registered and legal app, their job is to protect and secure that information. If people or users are not that satisfied yet with the application-provided security, I think it is already their responsibility to take measures to secure their data for example, using a VPN, changing the settings such as blocking unwanted emails, downloading anti-virus to avoid unwanted files to go to your system that might cause hackers to get hands on your data.

Oh wow good to know that I am not the only one getting spied. So are we all in the same boat? But what about the technicians who are working on such projects? Why don't they make a voice against such technology they must know to what extent things are recorded or seen by their tech companies. I mean they must know that they are also tracked, isn't it?

I am not going nuts here but you know what sometimes I have "thought about" a few things and the next thing I saw on my phone was the same thing. Can you guys relate to this process? How is it possible? Or are we so much surrounded by technology these days that we are ending up in psychological circles where what we think and what we see is getting just normal things every day.

It's crazy and nah you are not paranoid. I have literally stopped using my Alexa after I have seen how it keeps listening to the conversation in the background. Horrifying. 

i'm not sure if they are only listening. i noticed that even the things i was thinking. not even say a word about something that i was thinking yet the ads appeared as if they knew what i was thinking. believe it or not. it's happening!   stop memorizing your seed phrase!  ;D

really crazy i was just thinking of buying a saw that i will cut the branches that overshadow the house roof. so i was looking at the branches and when i got inside to once again check my Facebook, the ads about this kind of saw appeared.

Yes, it is true and I experienced it many times. Once I started talking about my laptop that was old and wanted to buy another one for my work but I just talked about not making any decisions to buy it right now. After an hour I took my phone and went to Facebook to see new updates and I saw that after some time I saw one advertisement for a laptop the first time I didn't notice but when I went to some other plate forum and saw the same things happened then I came to know that yeah I talk an hour ago about the laptop.

I confirmed this from a person who was CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai. He said that Google is always listening to you and when you say something like that google puts it to you because of the advertisement. So be careful with that if Google uses your microphone and camera then definitely it will be easy for the hacker to steal your data through it.

The scenario you describe raises legitimate worries regarding the extent to which technology corporations gather and monitor data. To forecast preferences, computers may evaluate not just spoken words but also written inputs and human behavior. While firms frequently deny active eavesdropping, the complexities of data monitoring and ad targeting algorithms necessitate continual study and debate in order to better comprehend the privacy implications of our increasingly linked digital lives.

In this digital era, it's almost impossible to completely eliminate the collection of our personal information by companies and organizations. Data has become a valuable commodity, and many businesses rely on it to generate income and develop new products and services.

we can utilize tools and technologies which regard more on users' privacy, such as encrypted messaging apps, VPNs and browser extensions that block trackers and cookies. These tools can help create a more secure and private online experience. it's a balancing act between using the digital services we rely on and protecting our privacy.

It's not that deep. This has been known for a long time. If you want to avoid it you shouldn't use a smartphone. In my opinion there is nothing bad about it, they make your life easier by personalizing the ads for you. Of course if there are people who are uncomfortable with this, they will either not use smartphones or they will use untraceable ones that are specially made for this. If you are uncomfortable with eavesdropping, city life is not for you. Because even if you don't use it, the phones of the people around you record your voice anyway.

I do not think at all that people, or let's say most Internet users, are aware of maintaining privacy while using various applications, especially social media applications. The clear evidence is the amount of data that these applications still collect from users and on the basis of which they develop their products. There is no explanation for this except that the majority of users are actually unaware or that they do not pay attention to the matter and do not have the ability to realize the danger in it. Most applications stipulate in their terms of use that they prohibit the use of hiding software such as VPNs. Of course, because it knows the importance of collecting navigation data on the Internet and will not hesitate to use any means to continue doing so.

That is what he said, that we already know this. It's just that he discovered something which might still be new to him and it's worth sharing here for the awareness of those who also didn't know it yet. I'm still not sure though if I will agree on that, that we are a product because I think a product is something that is being created by a company and will be ready for sale to the public.

Although maybe, we are a product of god. Or the product of Eve and Adan :). It's actually mind boggling if some business can still earn without selling anything. What I only know is that a government or its officials can earn so much money even if they didn't work hard. That is, if they are also corrupt.

This is so true, few weeks ago I went to price a Monopoly board game and that evening I started seeing Monopoly game ads on my phones, that is when I realized the big brother issue is so much true, they monitor everything about you, then I was thinking I need to get phones that are not internet enabled as my private phone and used the other ones for internet communication and also there is need to start using VPNs, if you can get one that is really secured because some of these VPNs are there to collect your data and sell, the world is really going crazy

That's very strange. You never spoke on the phone with anyone concerning the Monopoly game or made any inquiries online. You just visited a physical game shop and you start seeing Monopoly games ads on your phone? Does this imply that the shop has a sensor or scanner that collects people's personal data immediately after they enter the shop? 


It has become impossible to live in this present technological world privately. There are cameras everywhere and mobile phone networks have your data. We know that these agencies spying on citizens invade their privacy but it also has its own advantage. Spying or recording of personal information has also helped to fight crime in many countries. Living without a smartphone will be only suitable for retirees who have decided to live an off-grid life. Except one has enough money to sustain himself there is practically no job one can do now without the use of a smartphone to communicate. My own view is that, if you are not engaging in any criminal activities, there is no need to be apprehensive about this privacy issue because we cannot avoid it.     

We know that many privacy-conscious people cover the cameras on their personal computers in fear that someone will spy on them that way, and maybe it's time to start covering the microphone on our smartphones when we're not using them for calls. Although I wonder to what extent it would be useful considering that we are spied on even when we use such devices to talk to someone, which is actually the main purpose of mobile phones.

As someone has already written, if we want to be a part of modern digital civilization, we obviously have to pay a price for it, and that means accepting that we are spied on not only by smartphones, but by most other devices such as computers, smart TVs and any device that has internet access .

The lesson of the story is to be careful what we say, even when we are alone in our four walls, because someone is always listening.

I don't agree that we are being "spied" by Google, Meta and Microsoft. By using those platforms, we are giving our permission for our data to be used for marketing purposes. It's not spying if you are aware that your online behavior is being tracked. ;D Spying is only when you don't know.
I don't know about whether or nor our smartphones are recording us. I usually hate wearing my smartphone in my pockets and I don't keep my smartphone turned on for very long periods of time. You can do an experiment to prove your theory. Talk about something in front of your smartphone and then do a Google search(or Bing search) about the thing you talked about.

It's true that it's likely not wise to "trust" your smartphone but I don't think we can jump into the conclusion that devices are actively listening on us at all times. It is definitely possible but I can see it more likely to be targeted and not used on the masses because of the inherent risks for the party doing it incase it's revealed.

What I personally think is that people underestimate the vast amount of information that can be inferred by what you and your friends/family do online. Just by browsing something, the advertisers can infer another, seemingly unrelated thing about it. That's more likely how these suggestions come to be. You also need to understand that it's not just your personal activity online. If someone you know has let a social media platform access to their contacts, that means you will be easily connected to that person too.

There's so much information that can be gathered and inferred indirectly without the need for spying directly. The problem is that a lot of the "spying" is perfectly legal.

While without a doubt people accept the TOS of those companies that includes using all the information you generate while using those services, and as such that cannot really be called spying, at least to me there is enough circumstantial evidence that points out to the fact that they could be going even further in their attempts to get your data, and the reason for this is simple, if they have more data to feed their models then a better model can be created which can give them an advantage over their competitors and dominate the market this way, so companies have all the reasons to try to do this.

There's a more obvious and logical explanation: the guy had been GPS tracked to the shop and inside the shop. In my case, it's really not that obvious. I have no idea how they found out about that defective part (read my post above) as I wasn't on the phone with anyone, the camera wasn't functioning as the phone was in my pocket. I also didn't communicate with anyone while on premises. What kind of black magic is that?  ???

There's probably a reasonable explanation here too.  I bet you googled it or texted someone about it and just forgot.  If not, then we're getting into real conspiracy theory territory where, like in Orwell's 1984, big brother is always watching us. 

I mean technology sure makes it feel that way sometimes.  but I dont really buy that our phones are spying on us or reading our minds. and  There are just patterns we don't always notice - we search for something earlier without remembering, then are surprised when ads seem psychic.  Or it's coincidence.  But logical brain says there's gotta be a rational reason.

The increasing sophistication of technology makes it all make sense.
Our phones are the source of everything and whatever you search for or type is recorded and processed to display everything you need.

Since your phone uses Google as the main account, everything will be recorded there.
including where you last located and what you're looking for.
It will also be tailored to the content and needs you are looking for.
Nothing is accidental, everything comes about and happens because you think and type it on your phone.

You just need to turn the Access & control activity on or on feature
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/7028918?hl=id&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid

I'm pretty sure I didn't. I swear I didn't even know what that spare part was called until I saw the ads. Frankly, I still don't know what it's called even now. It's some kind of a plastic housing with high pressure hose connections. How could I google it? I'd really like to know how they're doing it...

Though I agree that this is still an unconfirmed conspiracy theory, but I have read some articles related to this phenomena more than one year ago, now I am not sure if this is the exactly same article but this is the talking about the same thing https://www.narcity.com/why-you-keep-getting-ads-for-things-youve-talked-about-but-havent-searched-up-online

There is actually some free mobile games on playstore/appstore that has an implemented software to listen to our conversation, and the player mostly granted access to the mic because they need to use the in-game voice chat features. Other explanation is that the they combine data and algorythm like they know that you own a car, and the algorythm approximating when you need to get a new car key.

Yes, but I've never played games on my phone. There are no games installed and the phone is after a factory reset.

Besides, I don't own the car as mentioned in my previous posts, the owner just handed me the key and I was holding it in my hands for some time that's it. I have no info on whether the key was indeed not functioning as intended. So yeah, there are more questions than answers here. 

Today's internet exchanges are closely examined. This is advanced behavioral prediction, not observation. Companies are monitoring not only what we do but also why and what we might do next. Despite our online activity being deciphered, Bitcoin stands out. It signals a move toward private, controlled finance. Bitcoin challenges online transparency. It provides some privacy in a world when our every move is tracked and analyzed

Consider the legality and ethics of this'spying.' A complex web of legal and moral issues. However, Bitcoin triumphs here again. It represents a growing financial privacy and autonomy movement, not merely a digital asset. Bitcoin is a beacon of financial self-determination in a data-driven world. Not just its value, but the values it embodies. In this age of digital scrutiny, Bitcoin is more than a financial option

Users of social networks give permission to collect and analyze general information about them, but we do not know whether this collected information is being used in good faith, or whether additional information is being collected that we would not like to make public. And this is definitely happening. Today's technological devices provide us with much more convenience, but they take away our privacy.

I dont think they’re eavesdropping. I thought about that too and I thought that maybe they just know the pattern of my vibe from online stuff or I may not know it but I am already browsing the thing that I want. It's understandable to feel concerned, but it's more likely that targeted ads are based on your online activity and preferences rather than direct audio or video surveillance. Ad algorithms analyze various data points to personalize content I really think thats scary. Thats why we should be careful online.

It is true that a lot can be inferred from the information that you willingly give to those companies, similar to what happens when you watch a movie in an app and then you get a bunch of movies recommended to you that other people liked, so the more data you give to the app the more accurate accurate can be the predictions of your tastes, however when there is such a timely response on their part for something you have never expressed any desire and suddenly it appears out of nowhere being recommended to you, this makes me think there are grounds to think that they are going further on their search for more data than what we have agreed on their TOS.

Hmm lets just separate this kind of topic about on trying out to correlate Bitcoins privacy thing considering that we are really that trying out to make talks or explains about those companies are really that
trying to hear off on what are the words that we are basically be discussing on the sense that they did really come into a point that even on just talking beside with your phone with other people
does automatically giving out suggestions basing up on what you had discussed. When it comes to privacy then it do really crosses out that line because it does really remove out that real essence
of privacy.

It do really just turns out that they are really that desperate on trying to hook up buyers or clients basing up on what they are looking for. They do really need to reach out
into that kind of certain extent for the sake of profits or revenue on which this is something not ethical to be done anymore. If this one had been proved out then
people would be making out those discussions and casual talking which they might be turning off their phones.  ;D

Not many people can afford to turn off their phones frequently. Many are using their phones for business and are waiting for important calls. Turning off a phone can ruin their business.

To me it's kinda clear that it's already happening. Just would like to know how is that possible.

In one way or the other we give access as well as accept their terms and conditions unknowingly. Through this we give access to the media, as well as the mic, maybe through that its happening. Everything have turned to be a big business and data sharing is more commonly taking place. Recently had an experience, how data are being gathered for few cents and got shared. Bought a chips packet and in that there's a cashback which can be claimed. Tried to claim and it requests for our entire data starting from mobile number to our address. I did everything and finally the terms and conditions, tried to read and found out a term which is really interesting. Accepting the terms and conditions means you're agreeing to share the data gathered to the sister concerns of the firm. These days spying the consumers based on their interest have turned to be common and this needs to be rectified.

People accuse TikTok that are spying on everyone's device. Everyone doesn't realize that every app that we have on our own that we have permitted to that we don't seem to care about at all is spying on us.
They get our privacy and data that's sent to them upon downloading and installing them.
Everyone is right that we are their products and things that we're taking on internet for free, they are not really free at all because there's a consequence of obtaining them.

It only becomes possible because every application on our mobile phones has access/permission to everything we search online. In online, everything is connected. We no longer have our privacy the time we connect to the internet. We have nothing to do with that. Like if you search for shoes online, every ad that appears on your mobile screen will be about shoes.

Aside from the permissions on applications, if you see a prompt every time you open a certain website asking if you allow cookies, it's either you accept all cookies or reject it. Internet cookies are bits of data, by this, they (the main server) can identify the user, prepare for web pages/searches, or even save the site login info for you.

We unthinkingly choose privacy over convenience. Our apps need access, but where do we draw the line? Consider that every online search leaves a digital footprint. This data helps companies customize adverts, services, and content. Imagine entering a room where everyone knows your name and preferences. Freaky, right? But wait - isn't this also convenient? Doesn't time pass faster when commercials are more relevant?

The cookie issue follows. We leave cookies like internet breadcrumbs. They help websites remember us, improving our experience. But they also let firms track our internet activity. Double-edged sword, right? We love personalized content but lose privacy. What's the answer? More data use transparency from companies? Stricter rules? Should people be more mindful of their digital footprints? It's a challenging choice, but in the digital era, ignorance is risky

Maybe some people don't really understand when installing applications on their cellphones and allowing access to their cellphones so that they can find out about what we do on our cellphones. If we install dangerous applications and also allow access to our cellphones, of course this will be very dangerous. data that we store on the cellphone.

It will indeed be very vulnerable to free applications that ask for access to the cellphone we have and there is no guarantee for the data on our cellphone, currently there is nothing that is truly free in this life, of course there are consequences for what we have done. use and very few people are aware of this.

But what are "dangerous applications"? Is Facebook "dangerous"? Is Google "dangerous"? Google comes preinstalled on some or all Android devices if I'm not mistaken? And regarding access, I have already mentioned above: how can we not grant Instagram, for example, access to our cameras? It's kind of defeats the whole purpose of that app. 

If we can remember the case of Mark Zuckerberg about some informations or private data of some users, I think that would be one of the thing that could be considered dangerous, since people can't do anything but the team itself to fix the issue. These apps are legal and would literally assure someone's data to be safe and secured but the thing is once we used their application they would literally have any information about us like for example the IP address, emails, password and etc. which literally supports the idea of "we are the product" cause people have no choice but to use it, only people could do is to customized their settings by their limiting their access for every app like in the Instagram, where they could only get to use the camera once I only open the app.

this issue regarding infiltrating into ones privacy is becoming seriously alarming. If it's true that these companies access people conversation and might even go to the extent of recording you, I think it had become a serious issue.

The thing about granting permission to most apps is that if you recuse them access to your location, camera, calendar and other key things, they might not even give you the access to effectively use most of the features that are in the app.

The pervasiveness of corporate "spying" extends far beyond the realm of fictional nightmares. While the collection of user data through cookies and social media interactions is undeniably pervasive, it's primarily driven by the insatiable commercial appetite for personalization in advertising and marketing strategies. However, under this seemingly innocuous facade lies a potential threat to individual privacy and autonomy that demands deeper contemplation.

The ability to track and analyze individual behavior online empowers corporations to craft detailed profiles, predict future actions, and ultimately, influence our choices. This personalized manipulation manifests in targeted advertising that often feels intrusive and exploitative, shaping our desires and influencing our decisions in ways we may not even be aware of. The fear of such intrusive surveillance is not a figment of the imagination. Numerous instances of government overreach and corporate data breaches serve as stark reminders of the potential dangers lurking within our increasingly data-driven world.

Same, I think also. who has experienced targeted ads triggered by conversations. it's possible they track online behavior for targeted advertising. That seems to be the aim. So whether it's Google or Meta (Facebook), what they really need is data racking on consumer conversation history. it's for their business, not for crime, that's what I think.

It's really scary to acknowledge that the potential risks associated with installing applications and granting access to personal data on smartphones is indeed crucial in today's digital age. Many users may not fully be aware of the implications of allowing certain apps access to their devices. Reminding the danger of installing random applications and the importance of being cautious about granting permissions is very important. Free applications often come with a hidden cost, and users need to be aware of the risks for the security of their data.

Your point about the lack of true free services and the existence of consequences for our actions in the digital realm is well taken. Users need to be more conscious of the apps they install. Reviewing permission requests critically and prioritizing their digital security are so essential. I think it's recommended that smartphone containing important data is not being used to install other random applications.