this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2023
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Is it any different than speaking in front of your smartphone?
I don't own an echo or Google whatever but I've definitely mentioned things and then got ads for that thing within the hour/day. Like cat litter when I don't even own a cat, just mentioned it once for cleaning up spills.
More likely there's a bunch of data points it can use. Coming within BT range of someone who does have a cat for example. Otherwise all the major smart phone companies would need to be in collision to keep the secret because the battery drain would be so blatant of it was recording, processing, transfering etc.
And all the articles that have said they aren't recording everything, I guess they would have to be in on it too.
I don't have a smoking gun for Google advertising based on conversation, but I mentioned in an email (Gmail) that someone I know was going to the Calgary Stampede, and Google Ads flogged Stetson cowboy hats and the Stampede for weeks after that. It was so conspicuous because normally it's just, "hot singles in your area", "hot Christian singles in your area?" maybe, "hot Christian moms in your area?" Nowadays it's like, "grannies near you want to fuck." FML.
My pastor mentioned a specific verse in his sermon recently. I went to type it in my notes. My phone's keyboard (Gboard) suggested that specific verse immediately. Not just the book. The chapter and verse numbers, too.
It's more likely you're getting those hyper-targeted ads because of location tracking and relationship tracking than because they're listening. It's much cheaper and easier than running voice recognition on shitty audio clips from a mic in your pocket, and honestly much scarier.
People only ever have anecdotes to support the claim that tech companies are listening in on their conversations, but these companies openly admit to targeting ads based on your location data and specifically who you've been associating with.
It's more likely that others in your congregation searched for that verse, so it was suggested to you based on your proximity to others who already searched for it.
It was in my hand. I was taking notes on it. So I doubt the audio was all that bad. My pastor also uses a mic, so his voice is not too quiet for a phone to pick it up.
I also find this unlikely because of how specific it got. It got the chapter and verse correct. The only input it got from me was my beginning to type out the name of the book of the Bible.
While that's possible, I'm not sure it'd work so quickly. I typed the reference in my note-taking app literally as soon as my pastor said it.
I don’t even get “hot singles in your area” anymore.
Where did I go wrong?
Get out of here with your reasoning. It's more fun to feign outrage because it gives me an opportunity to feel smart. If you start to invalidate my superiority by pointing out how arbitrary and dramatic my response is then I'm going to downvote you.
I don't know about you, but I generally turn my phone off completely when I'm at a doctor or hospital, as per the rules they have posted in the lobby asking me to do so.