Just realized my phone wasn't really listening to me after all

I used to be 100% sure my phone was listening to everything I said. Like I'd mention a brand of vacuum cleaner while talking to my wife in the kitchen, and then bam, an ad for that exact vacuum shows up on Instagram 20 minutes later. Happened at least 5 or 6 times over the last year. But last month I actually tested it. I spent a whole week saying random stuff near my phone like 'giraffe shoes' and 'purple lawnmower' and never saw a single ad for either. What finally convinced me was reading a report from a security researcher who broke down how the microphone data would be way too huge to send constantly. Plus I looked at my data usage and there was nothing unusual. So yeah, I changed my mind. The ads are probably just from my search history and browsing habits matching up at the right moment. Has anyone else done a similar test and gotten different results?

2 comments

2 Comments

karenb975d agoTop Commenter

The researcher you mentioned might not be taking into account that companies don't need to send raw audio. They can process the speech right on your phone and just send the keywords it picks up. That would use almost no data. I've seen reports from tech journalists who ran their own tests and found that phones were listening in certain apps even when they shouldn't have been. Your 'giraffe shoes' test doesn't really prove much either because those are nonsense words nobody sells ads for. The vacuum ad appearing that quickly is just too suspicious for me to let go of.

the_tessa5d ago

Friend tried this with "purple lawnmower" and got ads for lawn gear three hours later.