this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
185 points (95.1% liked)
Technology
59582 readers
2500 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I don't know why people keep thinking that phones are listening in on every conversation just so they can advertise 'Volvo' at you.
they don't need to - we give them loads of data voluntarily based on location data, what we search for, things we buy, things we 'like' on social media..
they'd be stung for huge fines and reputational damage if caught doing it.
it'd take enormous storage and processing power to manage all that data.
Just think about how many things you talk about every day that you've never then seen an advert for (confirmation bias)
my Google Home can't understand me when I'm actually talking directly at it asking it a question, so the idea it can seripticiously pick out words while listening through my pocket is implausible.
Give me a way to physically shut off the microphone (like a camera shield on business laptops), then we will talk.
Strange topics had popped up in my Google feed after l spoke to someone about something I've never googled before
Same here. If I go to a house with a football game or tv show blasting, the next day I see news related to this. It is not something I have googled.
Did you have your location services turned on around other people who likely did google that kind of thing? Or connect to the wifi in that house that almost certainly put in a search or 2 for that game? Or people who were there that Google knows you interact with? Did they Google it? Or was it just a very popular thing that was huge in the zeitgeist that day for everyone? We are tracked in so many ways that don't require them having to store and analyze literally every conversation that everyone has (Both sides of the convo as well!)