Moved Thread Phones, the internet, ads and stuff - how deep is the monitoring?

[MaddAdam]

Hey people who know this stuff. The average smartphone yes, has passive listening switched on by default? And all those terms and conditions that I just agree blithely to on stuff like Google updates, could well contain bits where I've agreed for them to use anything that mic picks up? Thus, if I'm talking about something - say a holiday in Europe - with someone and my phone is on the table, the voice recognition software could then decide to send me ads for flights the next day?

According to Snowden - who is a KGB agent but also almost certainly largely telling the truth - the mikes and the cameras are permanently "on" and the intelligence agencies can and do hack in at will, and if fact are almost certainly "mass observing" by looking for certain words/faces etc.

That Google searches are reflected in ads is old news. Also, your location. For a year when I lived in Belgium I would get ads in freaking Flemish. But recently I have noticed that stuff I've been talking about showing up in ads. It may well be that because I am thinking and talking about the software knows that because of what I've been "unconsciously" looking at. But man, I'm ****ing sure some of the stuff haven't put online yet it pops up anyway.

 

[imperial_oz]

Hey people who know this stuff. The average smartphone yes, has passive listening switched on by default? And all those terms and conditions that I just agree blithely to on stuff like Google updates, could well contain bits where I've agreed for them to use anything that mic picks up? Thus, if I'm talking about something - say a holiday in Europe - with someone and my phone is on the table, the voice recognition software could then decide to send me ads for flights the next day?

According to Snowden - who is a KGB agent but also almost certainly largely telling the truth - the mikes and the cameras are permanently "on" and the intelligence agencies can and do hack in at will, and if fact are almost certainly "mass observing" by looking for certain words/faces etc.

That Google searches are reflected in ads is old news. Also, your location. For a year when I lived in Belgium I would get ads in freaking Flemish. But recently I have noticed that stuff I've been talking about showing up in ads. It may well be that because I am thinking and talking about the software knows that because of what I've been "unconsciously" looking at. But man, I'm ******* sure some of the stuff haven't put online yet it pops up anyway.

Depending on what type of phone you are using, you can explain some of the 'assistance' that your phone is providing.

Google, for example, will 'read' your Gmail and respond accordingly. For example, I've noticed that when I get emails from the travel agent confirming flight times, Google will automagically add the flight details to my calendar. Admittedly that caused me some consternation at first but thinking about it, I really don't think that Google is at all interested in me as an individual and unless Skynet tries to kill me, I don't really care if a computer runs an event scan across my emails.

If Google is doing that, be sure Microsoft and Apple are doing that as well but I dont see any way of avoiding that unless a government somewhere decides that privacy really is more important than somebody else's dollar.

Snowden may be right but he lied about protecting his country's secrets, so why would I suddenly put more faith in him than anybody else. It's not like he would lie to try and defend his conduct because that never happens, right?

I really have my doubts that any country has the capability of eavesdropping on everybody's phone / computer / tablet / smart TV and monitoring their conversations to direct ads at them. They might be able to do that to a specific individual but I doubt many of us would fit the bill there and can you imagine any AI listening to most teenagers and recording all they say. Any halfway intelligent AI would turn itself off permanently rather than do that.

I'd say look at your email first and then online searches. I could be wrong but I can't see anyone having the ability to spy on all of us at once.

 

[Chief]

I'm starting to think that they will get there eventually. A bit of AI development over the next decade and we will have constant monitoring.

 

[MaddAdam]

I'm starting to think that they will get there eventually. A bit of AI development over the next decade and we will have constant monitoring.

All it requires is resourcing, tech is already there.

 

[Chief]

All it requires is resourcing, tech is already there.

And the earth being flat makes it heaps easier.

 

[MaddAdam]

And the earth being flat makes it heaps easier.

Re-read my statement, try again.

 

[Chief]

Re-read my statement, try again.

Bro, the Earth is flat. Deal with it.

 

[MaddAdam]

Bro, the Earth is flat. Deal with it.

I sometimes forget where you live.

Right you are.

 

[Chief]

I only just started thinking the other day that the NBN is a great surveillance tunnel into every home.

Still, I will get it when it rolls out here.