Fact or Fiction: is your phone really listening to you?

Last week I wrote about confirmation bias, which we all unknowingly deal with. For example, when we think again that our phone is listening in on our conversations. On Facebook, this led to quite a few reactions, where many people recognized this. But there were also quite a few people who said: your phone is indeed listening to you. Since I actually thought it was a bit of both, partly confirmation bias and partly Mark Zuckerberg, I went on a quest. Is your phone really listening to you and if so, to what extent?. Let me start by stating that I have asked this to a Google employee before. Someone I know from the past works there now. When I met him about two years ago in Amsterdam, it was in a bar and we had both already had quite a few Moscow Mules. So after some small talk, I asked: what's the deal, does Google listen to us?

At first, he had to laugh, then some vague words came out like 'yeah yeah' and then 'no way' and then again 'no okay, yes'. Those answers may also have something to do with the previously mentioned Moscow Mules. But he didn't get off that easily, because I wanted an answer. And after a while of pressing, the high word came out: it is indeed true, but not as bad as is said. Now I found that quite a revelation (don't worry, you remain anonymous. I think.), but I still want some harder evidence than an employee who drunkenly talks out of turn on a Friday night.

Another Google employee from Belgium has already spilled the beans, reports.

the site AdFormatie. According to him, Google indeed listens in, but he says they only do this through Google Assistant. So if you have a Google Home at home, there's a good chance you're not completely alone during private conversations. This employee also mentioned having picked up intimate and domestic conversations. Small comfort: it concerns about 1 in 500 conversations and it would purely be used to improve Google Assistant and enhance speech technology.. Website Spiralytics.

goes even deeper into this, especially on the data your phone picks up from your speech. Because that's what it is according to them: they pick up words here and there, but do not listen to full conversations. Unless you use a specific app like Siri, of course. If you start a conversation without saying 'Hey Siri', you're basically checked. It would mainly be a mix of the things you post and view on social media, the websites you visit, and random words that may reveal a certain interest. So if you've been passionately talking about a drill that drills like crazy for a while, it could seriously be that they picked that up.

But — and this is a big but — no company has actually confirmed this yet. Facebook continues to claim high and low that they have the capacity to do this, but that they do not make use of it. Hm-hm.

By the way, do you want to ensure that your phone has as little access to your conversations as possible? Then check under microphone (via your settings and then to 'Privacy') which apps you currently give permission for your microphone. It makes sense that WhatsApp needs access to function (because otherwise you can't call there, of course), but WhatsApp is now also part of Facebook, so well...

Fact or Fiction: does your phone really listen to you? : Amayzine.com