I'm not paranoid but, how smart are smartphones?

jimharri said:
Not as weird as some of the stri, er, "performers". Remember the bar scene in Mos Eisley in the original Star Wars scene? Well; that should give you a fairly good idea.
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My bars make the Star Wars bar look high class tbf...
 
I don't know what other people are seeing but there is an advert for Galaxy S10 phone at the bottom of this thread.
 
Your phone knows everything.

Camera and microphone can be remotely activated, and your phone could even be on when it appears to be off.

The only way to be certain it isn't transmitting is to remove the battery and SIM card.

You can also place it in your microwave (don't turn it on though) to stop it transmitting. However, it can still record and save audio and video and transmit once it is reconnected to a cell mast.
 
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I still haven't seen conclusion proof that phones are listening to people without their consent and advertising accordingly.

It would be big news if that was proven.

I think the examples people give are where people search for stuff related to the things that then 'coincidentally' get advertised. Like say you started searching for gym kit. It might then make an assumption that you're thinking of taking up tennis so they advertise a tennis racket.

Then you have a conservation about the gym and it's tennis courts with your mate and then suddenly you have an advert for a tennis racket. And it's not because of your conversation but a logical guess from your original gym search.
 
Our head of IT says you’re entire technology in your pocket and at home is listening to you.

1984 isn’t fiction.
 
crooky said:
I still haven't seen conclusion proof that phones are listening to people without their consent and advertising accordingly.

It would be big news if that was proven.

I think the examples people give are where people search for stuff related to the things that then 'coincidentally' get advertised. Like say you started searching for gym kit. It might then make an assumption that you're thinking of taking up tennis so they advertise a tennis racket.

Then you have a conservation about the gym and it's tennis courts with your mate and then suddenly you have an advert for a tennis racket. And it's not because of your conversation but a logical guess from your original gym search.
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https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/amphtm...DIR0kCLWadisye52b3L48lM9rXqLxhSJXnPc3Nqdwi5Bc

This social media admit it.

The ones who haven't you need to worry about.
 
crooky said:
I still haven't seen conclusion proof that phones are listening to people without their consent and advertising accordingly.

It would be big news if that was proven.
Click to expand...
This is absolutely happening. The social media companies don't even deny it anymore. And I've noticed it getting even more sinister since arriving back in the UK on holiday.

One example... me and the missus were in London last week and she had no roaming data, so we were only using my phone when out and about. We'd been looking at some watches for her on my phone while on the train back to the hotel. When she finally connected to WiFi, HER Facebook and Instagram were being targeted with ads for the exact same watches we'd been looking at on MY phone.

Another one... on the same trip, she was in Next trying on some new work clothes. Their UAE website is 20% cheaper (no VAT) so she took photos of the barcodes, with the intention of buying them online once we get back. Next day her Facebook and Instagram feeds are full of ads for those same five items.

Sadly, you're right though. They're technically not doing this without our consent as by signing up to these apps, we're effectively giving them permission to snoop on us 24 hours a day. It's relentless and it needs reining in. As others have said, watch The Great Hack (even just the first 30 mins) and prepare to have your mind blown.
 
Fictional but closer to the truth than people think was this episode of black morror



Not just the tech companies, every and any site you go in could have tech that activates your microphone or camera unknown to you.
 
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Since turning my microphone off in the individual app settings I don't feel like it's listening in anymore. I also turn location off until I need it when I'm abroad or something.
Ok Google is switched off.

I also use Brave browser which has a built in ad blocker and tracker blocker, so no ads can be directed at me. I sign in to my Google account on there and have a very fast, ad free browsing experience.
 
Ifwecouldjust....... said:
For those concerned about Alexa listening to everything ... Amazon are coming up with a 'male' version called Alex




It doesn't listen to anything and won't respond.
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tenor.gif
 
mat said:
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/amphtm...DIR0kCLWadisye52b3L48lM9rXqLxhSJXnPc3Nqdwi5Bc

This social media admit it.

The ones who haven't you need to worry about.
Click to expand...

Yeah but it says in that article it was for the dictation function of Messenger. Facebook even explicitly say they don't take recordings unless you grant the relevant permissions and activate it yourself.

'The companies each said they used the practice to grade and analyse the quality of their voice and language recognition services, with the aim of improving their performance.'

There's nothing to say they use any unrequested recordings and nothing to say they use these for adverts.
 
Dubai Blue said:
This is absolutely happening. The social media companies don't even deny it anymore. And I've noticed it getting even more sinister since arriving back in the UK on holiday.

One example... me and the missus were in London last week and she had no roaming data, so we were only using my phone when out and about. We'd been looking at some watches for her on my phone while on the train back to the hotel. When she finally connected to WiFi, HER Facebook and Instagram were being targeted with ads for the exact same watches we'd been looking at on MY phone.

Another one... on the same trip, she was in Next trying on some new work clothes. Their UAE website is 20% cheaper (no VAT) so she took photos of the barcodes, with the intention of buying them online once we get back. Next day her Facebook and Instagram feeds are full of ads for those same five items.

Sadly, you're right though. They're technically not doing this without our consent as by signing up to these apps, we're effectively giving them permission to snoop on us 24 hours a day. It's relentless and it needs reining in. As others have said, watch The Great Hack (even just the first 30 mins) and prepare to have your mind blown.
Click to expand...

Do you both have the Facebook app on your phones with all sorts of permissions enabled and are you down as married on Facebook?

Regarding the photos of the barcodes what app were you using to take pictures of the barcodes?

I've taken a fair few pics of barcodes using my camera app and seen nothing related. I've also used an app called ''barvalid" for actually scanning the barcodes themselves and also the barcode scanner built into the Samsung Internet app... And I don't get anything.
 
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