Is my phone listening to me? | The Stream

Ok Google. Hey Siri? Alexa! Voice recognition has become commonplace for millions of people around the world as consumers become more reliant on the virtual assistants that come with our smart phones and speakers. And while these AI-powered assistants quietly listen for our commands, who else is on the other end?

The short answer is pretty much everyone. That’s because while your device is listening for your command, it’s also listening to your conversations and giving that information to other applications on your phone. So it might not be a coincidence that after telling your friends you need new athletic shoes, you see an advertisement for trainers while scrolling through Instagram.

“From time to time, snippets of audio do go back to [other apps like Facebook’s] servers but there’s no official understanding what the triggers for that are,” explains Dr Peter Henway, a senior security consultant for cybersecurity firm Asterix. Henway made the remarks in an interview last year published by Vice.

Whistleblowers from Apple, Google, and Amazon claim workers regularly listen to private conversations - like those between a doctor and patient, as well as sexual encounters, and even criminal acts.

On this episode we’ll ask a panel of experts what our devices know about us and how can we protect ourselves?

Join the conversation:

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[aljazeeraenglish]

Thank you for watching everyone. Please let us know what you thought in the comments below.

[mrbull]

The smartphones are easdropping.
I have had conversations about a topic in my home, without being on the internet, and a short time later when i launch the internet browser, or go on youtube, the first video that pops up is on a topic i was talking about even though i was not searching for it.

[deedeewinfrey]

I know its listening I called someone a limb D$$$, and afterwards all my ads were for erectile dysfunction medication. Lol.

[savagelychill]

Duh? Thats the point. Total control! Welcome to the Orwellian dream embrace it!!!

[sasusan]

ABSOLUTELY!!!. I have deliberately made comments about a topic, say facial hair, and within days am being flooded with facial hair commercials. These phones have completely compromised us. This is beyond " Big brother"

[Potato-munu]

That's why when I talk dirty to my wife I put my phone in a sound proof safe.

[krollpeter]

Everything.
Where you stay every night (your home) and who is near you (your partner + family), which route you use every day for 5 days a week (your way to your work), where you stay around 8 h every day (your workplace), where you stay sometimes late but where is not your family (your mistress), ... and that is only a small selection from what it gathers with the help of just the location services inside every phone.

You did not browse the internet yet, you did not write any messages, listened to music, or what else. You just had the phone with you.

75 likes or dislikes on Youtube are sufficient for compiling an astonishing near accurate character profile about you, 300 will make it spot on.

[stranarn]

Isn’t the relevant question, if the government has the legal right to use the information they’ve got against you?

[anushathomas]

Absolutely eavesdropping! I have to just discuss about a shopping brand/restaurant with my friend face to face and the next thing I see is an advertisement of the same brand/restaurant on social media the very next minute.

[mike_skinner]

I went over the mountain Sunday and when I got back google asked me if I had just been on that highway and I went by motorbike. How would it know that I use a bike?

[tressfortified]

Wait until the internet of things takes over! They’ll know when you pass gas! Lol

[namesurname]

Cover your cameras, block your microphones, set phones on flight mode, monsters are real!!!
They are so called "police".

[Sheppesh]

They’re also tracking devices until you throw them away. You can’t be robocalled or scammed if you’re phoneless.

[ImBoredAsAMoFo]

Posted this in live chat and now here: no shit the phone is spying on you, it has been for YEARS.

[angelobugini]

Are our phones eavesdropping on us? is definitely a remarkable report! I truly did appreciate it so much. Thanks a lot for sharing! Keep it up!

[mrbull]

Many of us users need to start writing emails to these tech companies to demand full disclosure of their products. Facebook for example, knows everything about its users, but, despite the billions of dollars they make, they don't even have a live representative to speak to if there are issues. Boycott their products until they become accountable. This has to stop, we are collectively piece by piece, giving up our freedom to a corporatocracy and it does not have to be this way!.

[whoscottgreen]

I keep asking Alexa how many bitches I can fit in a Tesla, then I get pet adoption ads.

[johndecicco]

I read someone was watching a crime drama on TV, and the actor yelled, "Call the police!" Siri called the police.

[psadelachute]

Of course they are 😲
That's why I don't own one 😊👍🏽

[lorindarenteria]

Yes! They listen to your calls, texts, emails, and conversations near your phone.