Have you ever talked about something to a friend or loved one, and then shortly afterwards started to get ads for that product showing up in your browser or social media feeds? Of course you have, we all have!
And that leads us to think that our phone is always listening to us. Back in 2016 a myth started circulating that Facebook is listening, though that was also the same time they started ramping up their targeted advertising (a pure coincidence? Hmmm....)
The myth has taken off so much in the last eight years because it feels like it could be true. You do get hyper-targeted ads on Facebook and Google, but it’s not because your phone is listening to you.
You may be typing your thoughts into your phone more than you realize. Yes, you talked about booking a trip to Hawaii, but did you also briefly Google how much flights cost? Did you ask Siri what the best hikes in Maui were? Did you text search on Instagram for beautiful restaurants inside a volcano? That information is sold to advertisers, and you probably tell your phone more than you think.
So… of course our phone is not listening to our conversations, right? RIGHT?!?
The myth that your phone’s microphone is constantly on, and is listening to your conversations and selling that data to advertisers, is one of the most pervasive myths about technology.
https://gizmodo.com/your-phone-is-not-listening-to-you-1851220787
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