price.ben•6d agoOG Member

My phone started listening to me and it wasn't a theory anymore

Last Tuesday, I was talking to my wife about needing new hiking boots. I never searched for them online. The next morning, my Instagram feed was full of boot ads from brands we mentioned. I factory reset the thing that night and switched to a de-googled phone OS. Has anyone else had a moment this clear that made you ditch a mainstream device?

3 comments

3 Comments

sanchez.mary6d ago

My friend's baby monitor once repeated our conversation verbatim.

the_sam6d agoTop Commenter

That "repeated our conversation" thing is so creepy. I swear smart devices listen way more than they let on. My roommate's speaker once played an ad for cat food right after we were talking about getting a pet, and we never searched for it. Feels like nothing is really private anymore.

charles216d ago

Remember when people thought microwaves could spy on you? Feels like we're living that now.