Ars TechnicaNo, a marketing firm isn’t tapping your device to hear private conversations
"Real-time" listening claims were exaggerated, but the creepy factor remains.
Ged Maheux@arstechnica @CStamp Sorry, don’t believe it for a second. I’ve had more than a few instances where I only SPOKE about a topic (not searched or researched) in my own home and lo and behold soon after see ads for that topic. No one can convince me devices or apps are not actively listening.
🇨🇦 Steve@gedeonm @arstechnica @CStamp Have you had this recently? It happened to me a few times a couple years ago, but hasn’t happened recently.
@tewha @arstechnica @CStamp Yes. I 100% certainly have. Had an off the cuff convo about wanting Froot Loops with my wife one morning a month or so ago and soon after ads for the cereal (!!!) appeared in my Insta feed. Not any cereal, Froot Loops.
@gedeonm @arstechnica @CStamp I’m trying to remember. I think I had Facebook uninstalled for most of those two years, and I checked and have microphone access off now.
Oh, I should really take away photo library access. Probably too late.
Kristian@gedeonm @arstechnica @CStamp Same! Not even by a smart speaker, just the Instagram app open on a phone. Too many too improbable connections between spoken conversations and then targeted advertising.
James Harris - Find my bridged Bluesky account@gedeonm @arstechnica @CStamp those “coincidences” seemed to stop when I started using Friendly to access Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and uninstalled Amazon apps. Weird how that works 🤦♂️
Simon Harper@gedeonm @arstechnica @CStamp same. Has some very spooky ad experiences only recently. The iOS dot warning never appears when using IG, yet I still get ads that relate to products I’ve never searched for using my phone or laptop. It’s been going on for years with IG and creepy Meta.
Fabien@gedeonm @arstechnica @CStamp confirmation bias?
You (and I, and everybody else) are likely less original than we think. Based on age, location, everything else they know, they’re bound to guess right quite often. When they guess wrong you don’t notice, when they guess right you see a link…
You (and I, and everybody else) are likely less original than we think. Based on age, location, everything else they know, they’re bound to guess right quite often. When they guess wrong you don’t notice, when they guess right you see a link…
@fabienmarry @arstechnica @CStamp Anything is possible but this single incident makes me think otherwise. https://mastodon.social/@gedeonm/111587176565217758
Keith Ivey@arstechnica So CMG was blatantly scamming its customers by claiming to do things it wasn't able to, and damaging the reputations of companies that have voice assistants or other apps that have access to the microphone, which it claimed were helping it invade people's privacy? It's certainly believable that a marketing firm would do that, though the original story isn't exactly impossible.
The Green Knight@arstechnica bullshit. Stop the gaslighting.
You know how many conversations I had with my wife about Adirondack chairs while driving in my car in 2019?
One. I said the word once, because there was a free one on the side of the street. "Hey look, an Adirondack chair. Should we stop to grab it?"
Both Amazon AND Google targeted me for Adirondack chairs for a month.
Don't let these scummy corporate overlords lie to you.
And shame on you ars.
gentle colossusthis quote from the "marketing" (psyops) firm is absolutely chilling
> This is a world where no pre-purchase murmurs go unanalyzed, and the whispers of consumers become a tool for you to target, retarget, and conquer your local market.
Gerg! ☕@arstechnica I was standing in line one day scrolling Instagram. Two guys in front of me mentioned a local housing developer. About 30 seconds later I started getting ads about that company on Instagram.