Phone was listening to us!

Parent Cafe
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It makes me furious. Saturday night, DH and I were sitting at our neighborhood bar. His phone in front of him. We started having a conversation about dogs, guard dogs in Particular. It lasted 10-15 minutes. The next day he goes into work and dog ads start popping up. He knows when either of us look at something online as ads on the other Device pop up with that (another thing that makes me furious).

He came home and said, “have you been looking at dogs online”. I just stared at him and said absolutely not. Your PHONE was listening. So creepy.

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When I “knew this was true” was when one of my kids was talking about wanting some VERY expensive undergarment. Next thing I know, ads for that are app are appearing on my phone and iPad.

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I was having dinner with a couple of friends in a restaurant. For some reason we were discussing leaving butter on the counter. Next day I started seeing ads for butter and my newsfeed had articles about leaving butter out. Then, strangest of all, someone started a thread about it here in the parent cafe.

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We are all in the Matrix.

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I adjusted my iPhone’s settings to prevent this. Hope this article is helpful: Your phone is listening to you — here's how to stop it | Laptop Mag

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Had dinner at my daughters. She was talking that she wanted her grandma to make more bowl cozies for her to put her soup in.

The next day we both got targeted ads for bowl cozies!

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I first noticed this when someone mentioned an art exhibit she thought I might enjoy. Sure enough, ads for tickets showed up in my social media.

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I am going to try this out.

I need to think up some topic that my wife and I would not normally talk about, put our phones on the table, talk, and see what happens.

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Maybe I’m an outlier but there are SOOO many other things I’m worried about in the world.

Probably my phone goes on snooze cause nothing I talk about is that exciting and certainly very little I would be worried about “sharing”

I know it happens. I’m just not too worried.

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So, how creepy is this?! After reading this thread, I noticed this new, orange dot next to my Wi-Fi symbol on my iPad. I clicked on it, and this popped up!

I’m with @abasket - I’m not that concerned.

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I have the orange dot on my Apple watch so just went and turned off my microphone for all my apps. It’s still there. Doing an update tonight, so I hope it’s gone after that.

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Hemorrhoids!:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Interesting. Trying to understand more. If you don’t say “Hey Siri” (but settings still active), does the spy-listening still happen?

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I’ve not noticed this—so far. I guess Siri isn’t as interested in my conversations. Haha!

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My D and I were chatting on the phone the other night about Christmas gifts. She mentioned that she wanted to get her boyfriend a new suitcase, because his is old and beat up. We discussed soft versus hard shell. In less than an hour, I had a sponsored ad on my Facebook page for Travelpro with this line: “Cult Luggage Brand just changed my mind on the Hard vs Soft Suitcase debate.”

Can it be both concerning AND useful??!

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I never say Hey Siri

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Yes, the default setting on many apps gives access to the microphone on your phone. It’s essentially having a bug on your phone. You have to turn off the access in each app in your settings IIRC.

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That ship sailed a long time ago, and it’s not the only device in your home that’s listening, even if you think you’ve turned the feature off. Do you have a smart TV? Watch? Just about every digital device you own has a listening feature even if you’re unaware of it or it’s not advertised.

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It’s always listening. Otherwise it wouldn’t know when you said “hey Siri”.

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It’s not just the phone. My sister has google music in her house. After we were discussing a product in her kitchen the ads started on my devices. My phone knew I was there and google transmitted.

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