Shhh.... Somebody Is Listening.....

[anotherbob]

and people wonder why I have a dumb phone (flip phone).
Actually the reason is actually two fold. Cheap which is good for a product I might leave in my pants pocket and put into the wash. I.e. highly replacable with low impact on finaces. The other is I already spend more time online then I think is healthy and don't need an excuss to do so when I could read a book or something more enriching like see if I have any belly button lint.
But hey nice bonus not having a spying device I paid for "right Alexa"?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I don't browse the internet on my mobile phone. I don't go on social media.
I only use my phone to make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages.
That is it.
So.......I experience no such spooky events.

That doesn’t mean that it’s still not collecting data on you. You just aren’t seeing the results.

 

[anotherbob]

Your phone doesn’t listen and monitor your conversations. The technology exists (think Siri) but just one whistleblower would ruin the racket, so like all global conspiracies it’s not true.

We voluntarily give the telemarketers all the information they need.

Is your phone really listening to your conversations? Well, turns out it doesn’t have to

Have you ever been targeted with ads that are scarily specific to you, and wondered how the app or website could have known?

theconversation.com

The complete surrender of our privacy we grant by these little pocket computers can be nullified by turning it off.

Or using it just as the phone it was intended to be.

About thirty years ago there was a mass paranoia the government was secretly implanting microchips in us, sort of like we do now for our pets. It wasn’t true.

We carry around our own tracking information and pay for the privilege.

cell phones can be turned on remotely.

 

[olkofri]

That and the GPS tracking that continues even in "Aeroplane Mode".

And the Facecrook app that takes pictures at intervals without the user's permission or knowledge...—oh wait! Fakebook said that's a "bug" that's since been fixed.

And the Alexa et al devices that listen to everything in your home.


So, my cell phone became a landline. According to its data, I've been self-isolating for over three years now. Model citizen me.

 

[tklee]

"right Alexa"?

 

[Davy]

That doesn’t mean that it’s still not collecting data on you. You just aren’t seeing the results.

Yeah, probably. But they have less compromising dirt on me than the average Joe.

 

[anotherbob]

View attachment 222378

I remember people being so afraid of surveillance a while ago and now people basically run into being surveilled for likes and convenience. People are weird we're some how so manipulatable and predictable and also stubborn and unpredictable. It's almost like we're a force of nature.

 

[anotherbob]

Yeah, probably. But they have less compromising dirt on me than the average Joe.

I know it's annoying we have to make things up about you. The trick is making it just believable enough that a just enough people say "yeah I was a little suspicious of him, he seemed like the kind of guy with a secret chihuahua fighting ring."

 

[tklee]

I remember people being so afraid of surveillance a while ago and now people basically run into being surveilled for likes and convenience. People are weird we're some how so manipulatable and predictable and also stubborn and unpredictable. It's almost like we're a force of nature.

Yeah..... True. Actually, I'm not afraid or worried of I'm being spied or what. Like I told @cosmicfolklore on his thread , let them spy . I'm just a bit..... shocked, I should say. Shocked, that we're actually being "listened". Maybe I didn't believe it last time, now I believe . And that, it makes me feel a bit.... "spooky" in a sense. It's like, there's always "someone" invisible "listen" to you......

 

[shanez]

 

[jpmcwjr]

Not concerned with being listened to- and I am sure it's a bot or now Chatx.

Two apps I will never install are What's App and TiK Tok. Oh, and Microsoft Messenger on my phone for reasons other than safety.

 

[ThermionicScott]

View attachment 222386

I was just going to post that!

 

[Sam Gamgee]

I’m sure that buried somewhere in the “user agreement” we click on before using the phone, we are agreeing to being spied on, tracked, etc. So we have ourselves to blame, really.

Not long ago Joe Rogan read a bit of the user agreement for TikTok and it was all in there: their right to basically go through all your devices and apps, looking for God only knows what.

I heard an interview with John McAfee one time (a very controversial figure) and he said if you have a smart phone you are being tracked constantly, etc. He only carried a flip phone. And he still ended up dead.

The fact is, we are all too spoiled to give these devices up. They make life too easy and entertaining.

 

[trouttimes]

It has happened to me several times. I think Siri is off but who knows these days. If you aren’t on a few lists, you are not trying hard enough, you’re brain dead or you are one of the million sheep.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

Yep, it doesn't even take a few days. My wife and I can be discussing a tent sale, and tents will pop up in our feed. We just said the word "tent" and it showed up camping tents, even though we were discussing a sale somewhere.

There is something in Siri that does this. I have never used Siri, because I would make me feel stupid to talk to my phone. I have never accessed it, but yet it spies on us.
And, yet politicians seem to be passing laws about a silly kids app called TikTock. Like China is going to invade us based on information it gleams from 14 year old kids and adults that make silly harmless videos.

Don't be so quick to dismiss this threat. TikTok gains access to all the other apps on a phone to gain a network of interactions and information. They are working on AI to influence our kids through the videos they see. It is not silly when our youth want to change gender (as an example) and destroy society in many other ways, which is almost entirely due to exposure and repeated positive reinforcement of thought on social media apps.

If they can destroy us from within, no need to use global politics. If they can influence the next generation to abhor the military, we will not be able to exert any influence. The communists have a long term plan and they will be patient. Our apathy is concerning.

 

[tklee]

It has happened to me several times. I think Siri is off but who knows these days. If you aren’t on a few lists, you are not trying hard enough, you’re brain dead or you are one of the million sheep.

I checked my phone and my friend's phone today, both our Google assistant also turned off. And I asked him again whether he searched for the product in Google, he double and triple assured me, he didn't. I can only say "Ha! Technology! "

 

[Python 357]

Common. My wife and I were talking about the S&W Bodyguard while driving. Sure enough,an ad for a Bodyguard soon came up on her phone

 

[tklee]

Another experience. Last week, I was chatting with a few friends, talking about Tesla. You know, car talk, talking about people complain about their range is not accurate, talking about the design, talking about the battery, bla bla bla...... Then one of my friends said, "American are very proud of Tesla." Then almost in real time, my the other friend, who was wearing an Apple watch, news feed popped up from his watch, "Why American are proud of Tesla?"

Then we started talking about this topic. Yup, he said his Siri was always on on his iPhone.

 

[captainsousie]

I read today where Wyoming has flat out banned a certain application

On state devices, that's it. Kind of like how it's banned on federal devices too...

 

[captainsousie]

Maybe it merely targets Americans? No idea. It is strange that someone from there can't just dial my number. Maybe add a US area code first? IDK

To me it's more of a reminder not to treat apps as if they're a different technology. If you get a message or a call over an app from a number/person you don't recognize, don't answer it. You can answer a call on a phone with no worries but apps aren't the same thing.

This is a lesson my father is struggling to learn with facebook. If he gets a new friend request from somebody already in his friends list, he accepts it and interacts with it. The proper response would have been to report the unexpected/odd interaction rather than engage with it.