When I first found out my phone actually tracks the things I go, I must admit, I panicked a bit. It’s just a scary feeling to think that someone is watching you.
But just to give you an example of what I mean. Observe this, almost every person with a smartphone has experienced this at some point or another.
You discuss a certain product in real life with your friends and family, and suddenly your news feeds on all your social media platforms are filled with ads for said product that you previously discussed. In most cases we jus think it’s a coincidence, or sometimes we don’t even think about it.
This is not a new thing, in fact, it has been going on for quite some time and yes it is perfectly legal. More often than not, we willingly accept application “permissions” that allow apps to access our microphones and cameras, this is how phones listen to our conversations.
Before you go crazy and stay away from your device, it’s important to understand why your device is listening to you. In the world we live in, android and IOS devices make up the bulk of all the smartphone available on the market, meaning the bulk of all these devices come pre-installed with either Google Assistant (Hey Google) or Siri for iPhone.
In order to be able work on command, these apps have to be listening in order to activate the moment you utter the magic words. This also means that these apps are constantly collecting data based on your discussions to target you with ads of things you desire based on them and to track your data.
If you have ever wondered why you get the types of ads you get on social media, this is pretty much the same way that ads get placed . It’s all based on the sites you visit and the words you speak.
This is not compulsory. If you are not happy with your devices listening to you, there are a number of ways you can work around this. You can simply change your settings on your phone so that it doesn’t allow apps to listen in on you:
For IOS Devices
Go to Settings > Siri & Search
Toggle off the following items:
○ “Listen for ‘Hey Siri’”
○ “Press Side button for Siri”
○ “Allow Siri When Locked”
Finally, when a pop-up window appears, tap “Turn Off Siri”
For Android
To turn off “Hey Google” or to stop “OK Google,” follow these steps:
Go to Settings and select
Google > Account Services > Search, Assistant & Voice > Voice
Select Voice Match and, finally, toggle off “Hey Google”
Please also note that, making these systems changes, will remove your Google assistant and Siri depending on the phone you use.
Your phone is listening to you. Here’s how to stop it https://t.co/oep7sfiKis
— IOL News (@IOL) February 16, 2022
Your phone is listening to you. Here’s how to stop it https://t.co/oep7sfiKis
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