That time my dad swore smart speakers were just listening for free samples

My dad told me two years ago that our Amazon Echo was always recording everything and sending it to some data farm. I laughed it off and told him he was being paranoid like those people who wrap their phones in tin foil. Then last month I was talking to my sister about getting a new vacuum cleaner, nothing specific just complaining about my old one. The very next day I opened my Amazon app and there was an ad for the exact model I mentioned. I never searched for it typed it or even looked it up online. It was just sitting there in my recommendations like it knew what I said. Now I unplug the thing every night and I still feel weird about it. Has anyone else had a moment where the ads lined up too perfectly with a spoken conversation?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim_ramirez328d ago

Oh man that is literally the exact same thing that happened to me with my dog food! I was complaining to my friend about how my picky dog wouldn't eat the brand I'd been buying and the next day my feed was filled with ads for a brand I'd only mentioned out loud. I started testing it too like I'd say "I really need a new blender" while walking past my phone and bam ads for Ninja blazers showed up. I still use my Echo but I muted the mic and just use it as a speaker now because that stuff is way too specific to be a coincidence.

the_parker28d ago

Right? I swear my phone's just trolling me at this point, guess I'm not as paranoid as I thought!

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kaigibson28d ago

Went through the same thing and started testing it by saying really random stuff like "I need a cheese grater shaped like a fish" and sure enough those ads showed up. Turning off the mic access for random apps in my phone settings helped a ton, plus I go through and clear my ad ID every few weeks now.