This isn't really a question, but rather a real experience I had that I would like to share. Then I want to follow up with my thoughts... Here goes..
My husband and I watched Chernobyl. We were discussing the show, dynamics, people, their government, and how these factors played into this disaster. I was giving him my impressions on the actual events in comparison to the way it was portrayed (which were very similar to what I got in a previous reading I did prior to watching the mini-series).
 |
| This is a screen shot of the ad that appeared the following morning. |
A few moments later, my husband pulled up YouTube on our TV, and there was a video recommended to us was called "Facts of Chernobyl." We have never watched, searched or viewed anything on the topic prior to this.
So... this got us thinking. What is going on? Is the tv, phone, laptop, etc.. "listening?" And more importantly, via what means? So we did a test.
My husband randomly started to say "sexy lingerie, black sexy lingerie." He repeats this over and over (with no devices on), and then I chime in. I start to say it, and we do this over and over for a few minutes and then let it go. THEN, look at the ad that popped up when I got up the following morning to work my blog (I posted it on the right). Not only is it lingerie, but it even has the words we used verbatim! "They" are listening.
Now we go into research mode to figure out what device is guilty. We first started with our phones, and I did see the microphone turned on in an app that didn't need it (Go here for instructions as to how to check your phone for starters: https://qz.com/697923/heres-how-to-stop-facebook-from-listening-to-you-on-your-phone/
So now that you know the backstory, here is MY question and then my response...
Q. Who is listening, why are they listening. Who is "they?"
A. I get there are several means for them to listen to our conversations. It isn't just one method. With Smart TVs, phones, Alexa and Google Home, many people make it easy. We also volunteer all kind so information on all types of social media platforms. I also get during updates on certain devices they can enable microphones, and in the "terms and services" we have to "agree" to the terms in order to continuing to use the device.
I see that the FBI and CIA helped to fund the early data extraction sources such as FaceBook, and then expanded to other platforms. The other "platforms" saw this as an advertising dream, and the ABC agencies saw it is a way to profile people. It looked like a win-win partnership to those involved.
Now they are taking things a step further. In our age of marketing and consumerism, companies that sell advertising make lots of money, and with the right products getting to a target audience, the companies can make lots of money. We will be marketed constantly, and if they can market what you use or talk about, they get a much higher return on their advertising dollars.
Taking things a step even further, they can also also public opinion by putting ads, products, memes, etc in your path. Not only are products marketing to target audiences, but so are thoughts and opinions.
Check your devices, and do your own tests. If you think you are being manipulated, you probably are. Listen to your intuition. And that is all I have for this reading. Love and light, Lynn
PS- Note, I am running DuckDuckGo as a search engine, and also use the Brave browser, and I STILL got this to pop up...
To view free public posts, videos and discussion, please view any of the following platforms:
11 comments:
Well Lynn, I think you've given us all a homework assignment to check out if we're being listened to as part of an advertising a marketing ploy. Even 20 years ago they were building keystroke recording into every computer made, so it's not surprising they now use automated voice recognition to learn not only desired computer products but also maybe political points of view and even more personal data. Maybe it's some kind of perverse census or the government justifies it in the name of Homeland Security. We all know now that the Google and social media has been skewing and censoring conservative thought & support for Trump so we really are in the era of Big Brother which hopefully can be reiGned in. I wonder what ads will pop up if I keep saying over and over "Gee, I love that new AK-47" (not that I do or would)
Well how about a backdoor built into your processor (both intel and amd). In wich they can acces your computer without you even noticing it. Getting passwords and other stuff from you.
I taped off my build in spycam from my laptop pc. You can't buy one without it in these days.Geez I don't even have a cellphone. Because I just don't get it and I don't care about it.
I shared this on fb to help get the word out, but I don't think the people on my friends list will pay much attention to it.
Last week I was in the kitchen talking to my son about our kittens needing to go in for their surgery to be fixed. While talking I told him I wasn't sure if they would need a cone after surgery. While talking to my so my phone was on the counter and not being touched. In fact the screen was off. Only MINUTES later I see ads popping up for small soft animal head cones!!! I have never looked anything up on my phone before about the two kittens we had just adopted!!! I remember seeing a buzzfeed video before where someone tried to see if anyone was listening by saying certain words. The more I think about it the more it feels like information they were trying to push on people. Thank you so much for doing this!!!!
@Robert: Yes Robert, big brother at its finest! Beware... I encourage people to test this and see what they get.
@EA RW: It is getting bad...
@TheOnlyOne: Thanks for sharing!
@KellyPalmer: Thanks for sharing your story. This is a perfect example of this!
It's all great warnings here.
I don't have Alexa in any room in which we live, I do keep it in the [isolated] guest room. And my cellphones never make it to the living areas of the house, either, they stay near the garage.
You can't be too careful....
This is actually very true. I'm studying I.T. right now in another country. While we're using primitive penetration testing tools due to the old tech here, the very fact these spying tools exists means there are far more advance, discreet ways to get our data.
At the very least, if you don't want to be bombarded with intrusive ads, I do advice to use Firefox or non-'Blink' engine browsers. Blink-engine are the ones used by Google Chrome, Opera, etc. so it's best to avoid those. Then install an adblock plug-in to prevent most of those ads from popping up. Although it still doesn't change the fact that they can spy on you via your browser. To prevent it entirely, disable javascript. But disabling scripts these days pretty much excludes us from most of the services websites offer. Youtube videos for example, run on scripts.
@SamV: I agree. The strange thing is we too do not have our cellphones in the living room (they stay by the garage door/kitchen), so the microphone on it must be really incredible since we were two rooms away. It was very unreal to me. You are right, you cannot be too careful.
@Melly: Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the comments, everyone! I found this to be a very important topic!
Not just Facebook but WhatsApp too! From my own experience, I have switched ON < Permission usage monitor > after I noticed that my cellphone behaved oddly. And I got notifications that WhatsApp was trying to use the microphone :(
I also switched ON - Data saver helps cut down your data usage by preventing apps from using data in the background. And I don't allow any App to use data in the background
As for Google, there is one option I was advised to switched it OFF:
< Allow sites to check if you have payment methods saved >
Anyway, being old school, I never use my cellphone to make online payment/banking!
Oh! Yes! We are being "watched", our data surfing being collected and analysed … my source? People working as Data Scientists. They jibed at me "Heh! If you people keep switching OFF options, we will run out of data/job" LOL!
@Hope: Thanks for the comment! It is good to be mindful and aware of these things. Thanks for sharing!
Post a Comment