Tofu Golem

You probably think your smartphone is listening to you when it isn't. Those weirdly accurate ad placements often come from other creepy means, such as noticing when you pause ever so slightly while scrolling a web page.

Getting personal information from you via your voice is VERY inefficient because sound files take up a lot of space. It's expensive to store and analyze all those bytes.

You should still be worried about other means of violating your data privacy.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/26/alexa-how-did-amazons-voice-assistant-rack-up-a-10bn-loss

Alexa, how did Amazon’s voice assistant rack up a $10bn loss?

The tech giant’s flawed business model for its popular smart devices has cost the company a fortune and thousands of jobs

The Guardian
Dec 10, 2022 at 3:49pmWeb
Show threadnAble Media (Jesse)Dec 10, 2022
@tofugolem Still, it's pretty creepy when you just think or dream about something, maybe mention a dream to someone, then start getting ads about it. Especially something completely out of left field, like cranes. I dreamed about cranes once, then the next day I got an ad for them on facebook.
Show threadTofu GolemDec 10, 2022

@nAbleMedia
Yes, and one of the things I'm trying to get across is that there are a large number of small pieces of information you give off to various sources that result in these good guesses.

The pausing-while-scrolling thing was but one example.

Show threadnAble Media (Jesse)Dec 10, 2022
@tofugolem True. Though I don't think there would have been any data indicating I was interested in cranes at the time (I wasn't--I was interested in a salvage and recovery cutter, ideally the USNS Grapple, which does have a heavy boom aft and a light boom afore). Other than maybe general data like age and birth-assigned gender. So probably a coincidence, but a creepy and uncanny one.
Show threadTofu GolemDec 10, 2022

@nAbleMedia
The pause-while-scrolling thing would let you know that there are lots of ways you give information about yourself without realizing it.

For example, even if you tell the Facebook app not to track your physical location, it can still look at metadata on the pictures you take and make guesses about where you are and when.

If you suddenly start traveling shorter distances from home, they can guess that you are probably depressed.

There are so many ways.

Show threadnAble Media (Jesse)Dec 10, 2022
@tofugolem Sure. So it can look at my data, and probably determine pretty easily that I'm a disabled shut-in musician, photographer, and gamer, who rarely leaves the house, and who can't drive, and yet somehow come to the conclusion that I'm looking to invest in construction equipment. Anyway, my point is, coincidences like that likely do happen frequently enough that they, in combination with the things you've brought up, strongly reinforce the perception that our devices are spying on us.
Show threadTofu GolemDec 10, 2022

@nAbleMedia
They are.

Every web page, every mobile app, every smartphone, all of it.

But less of it happens through the microphone than you think. The fact that Amazon is losing so much money on Alexa should prove that.

Show threadJeremy HumphreyDec 10, 2022
@tofugolem Still doesn't explain the one time Google knew what I wanted to search after only one letter. It was something really obscure that had just popped into my head and not something I was looking at online.
Show threadTofu GolemDec 10, 2022

@FaenRis
That's different, but just as creepy.

Whenever you do a search, it pays attention to which links you click on. The last one you click on is assumed to be what you wanted.

Google them compares your search history and what you considered correct to other people's search histories, particularly those with similar search histories.

1/2

Show threadTofu GolemDec 10, 2022

@FaenRis
It's important to understand this algorithm. Google tells you what you want, not what is true. Not only do they know a lot about what you want from a search engine, but it basically turns Google searches into your own personal echo chamber that endlessly reinforces what you already believe.

If you believe that vaccines are dangerous, it will avoid showing you evidence that you're wrong about vaccines, to name one example.

This is why it's important to actively check citations.

2/2