Topic: You are the product. Corporations spying on us deeper than we thought? - page 4. (Read 831 times)

That's what the NSA has been doing already and it's not really a certainty that the government and these companies aren't conspiring to collect the data, I mean it's not far fetch to think so right? That the government can have the share on the data collected and in exchange they will allow this as long as they are involved so there's no possibility that the other countries might do the spying on their people. Regarding the targeted ads, I can't vouch for the listening but most platforms have a code or algorithm written that will check the users visits in pages or interests or something like, make sure to not allow cookies when you are visiting a website because that's another way that they can track you and target you with the specific ads.

It's been happening for a long time already. Governments and powerful countries as much as possible try to get all the information they want for current and future purposes. Products from China and the US have the highest chance of spying capabilities. Maybe Russian products as well but it seems like they are technologically behind compared to others. This is why I prefer Japanese, South Korean, and Taiwanese products.

But as long as we are living as good citizens and not hiding anything illegal then the less we have to worry about spying.

Well, those technologies you mentioned are improving every day, and they will definitely be working on some other projects from the inside that they have not brought to the public, and it could be possible that some of the apps we use on our phones have the possibility of allowing the phone to record things. For example, if you want to search for something on Google, you can actually use voice to say what you want to search for, and you will exactly get the results for what you have asked for. That's one reason for me to believe that some of the apps we have on our phones might be listening to some key words we say, and when we are browsing, they show results or adds based on the data they have gathered. Just my opinion.

You're not overreacting or paranoid. It is an honest fact.
Anyone who is still using Google, Meta, Microsoft, iPhone, and Android phones will always be spied on by this giant tech organization. However, ever since Elon Musk made a statement about the Fed paying some certain fund to acquire some information from social media platform I am starting to believe the Fed fully understand what this tech giant is doing and they are using it as a weapon.

You're not overreacting or being paranoid. I've had countless "coincidences" (not really coincidences) where what is mentioned in conversation is either appearing on my, or a friend/family member's point of advertising after conversation. It's happened so many times that it's proven rather than conspiracy at this stage (mostly IOS in recallable circumstances)

If you want to confirm it yourself, pick a random, advertiseable product and repeat it in a conversation form, I am sure you will see shortly after that your google ads, Facebook feed, or whatever targets you primarily for advertising will start to show results relating to it.

For example...
"I am really considering catching a flight to the Antarctic to see penguins but I can't find out if that's possible"
"I am really wondering if I can go and walk with penguins in the Antarctic"
"I would pay any amount of money to go and see penguins somewhere, I've never seen one before!"
"I wonder if I can pay someone to pet a penguin"

You can be sure that saying the above a few times in either conversation or just in a room where your phone also sits, that you'll start seeing ads relating to any of the following shortly after or over the coming days:
- Visiting penguins
- Flights to the Antarctic or tours there
- A zoo that has penguins

Zoo, flights and penguins are not standard advertisements...so if they come up, you can be sure that the ad was targeted because of what you said.

Try it and report back with results

My question is: did you read my posts above? I never searched any of that stuff online. I don't want and I don't own the car or the key, I haven't searched it online. And yet I was offered to buy it.

At this point I guess it's pretty clear that they ARE listening and there's some kind of AI processing this info and suggests the ads.


I wonder how is it possible if we're talking about IOS?

I guess this is what the world and tech has turned into right now. It is all about data data and data. Humans or consumers of tech products are just participants in a huge experiments going on and the data is being gathered and analysed by the research and development department of these corporations who have paid big money for this. While it is true that you can turn off permissions to camera and microphone on your phone when downloading an app it may not be possible for those who live in smart houses , or use cars that my have internet connectivity.

This has been true for 20+ years, why does it suddenly make sense in the end at nearly during a time we are so close to 2024? I mean from facebook to myspace, they all sold ads, and allowed us to be the user for free, which meant that the income they had was purely from selling us as the product to the people who gave ads, that was literally the case 20+ years ago, its really nothing new. I mean I get that its getting more and more common, but that's fine, its really not a big deal because it allows us to use some products for free. Not that I mind about seeing ads, I have ad blocker anyway so I do not really see all that many ads, and I am fine being the product.

I'm aware that big corporations steal data under the falsehood that they want to improve their services to end-users, and they end up selling it to big businesses. They collect our data directly by asking or indirectly by tracking us through ip address, browsing history, purchasing activity etc. With the advancement in technology anything is possible and these guys can take their data theft to a whole new level by listening to our conversation through smart devices. So op I don't think you're being over reactive, this shit could be real.

This has already been discussed many years ago. I am unable to find it right now so I can't provide the source link but I can share the summary of that topic. They are listening, they are tracking every move and whatever you say. If you are using Apple devices then most likely your privacy is secure, because they strictly focus on security. But that doesn't mean that they themselves are not listening. From what I know, every Apple devices has a built-in AI functionality which listens to your conversation and then use that algorithm to find something on the internet that matches your conversation. By doing this, your privacy and data does not get leaked. I don't know what goes inside the company, but this is what they have disclosed to the people.

As for Android, you are using the operating system provided by Google itself and they are always collecting data from you. They are also listening and watching. I don't know how secure these devices are. That topic was about using custom OS and not using the one provided by Google. There are open sources OS created by people which helps you control the default permission provided by Google and change it. Best alternative for this is MicroG. Then again, they are not 100% secure. But using custom OS is a bit more secure than using Apple devices or iOS.

So the point is, do not use whatever is provided by company itself. Try to find alternative that are more secure than the default one. Also, you can disable many permissions from your default operating system if you look for it in the settings. That prevents individual apps from accessing your data but not from Google itself. So if you want total security from everything then custom OS is the best choice. Do your own search before using. I might be wrong so I don't want to be accountable for anything happening to you.

This is not too excessive, because sometimes the placement of advertisements often coincides with what we are thinking and what we are talking about, so this gives rise to suspicion, is our cellphone really being tapped?

And what actually happens is that our cellphones are not tapped, but instead you are a social media algorithm system that tries to collect user data and monitor and collect things that its users like. And the results of this algorithm system analysis will later be presented to each user based on what they like. And this is done because currently social media is supported by advertising, so social media is designed to benefit advertisers, not users.
And that can happen, indeed often when we want something we often look for that thing on social media.

You are right it will work but only to some extent because every app you are using somehow becomes a part of your life, for example, Google map for travelers, Food Panda for food, OYO app for hotels, VPNs for changing locations, Browsers for different profiles, games to enjoy the time, etc., etc. These names come to my mind due to various factors, like ads, usage, etc. but your location has to do a lot with the usage of the app.

For example, if we are not depending on an app it does not mean people living in the UK or the US might be using that app because that same app has extra features abled to them but these extra features come with a price, that price is of privacy and these extra features apps are connected with each other in a manner that if you will remove one's permission other will start to malfunction.

That's why we can't remain safe from these ads and can't get full privacy with these smartphones even if we disable the permissions they are feeding data.

Yeah this is scary, I was talking to my wife about certain thing on consecutive days and then I see something related to that pops up on my Google Chrome, they even have voice detection I belive and we are being spied upon big time, right from our browsing history to shopping cart to the genre of videos we watch on YouTube until the places we visit.

We need to understand that if we are getting something for free, it mean we are the product and same game is played with us by big companies like Google, Amazon, YouTube, Meta.

Literally impossible if he/she had speaking with someone with a new stuff or he/she havent been able to input those information or certain stuff like searching on google or whatever that correlated into that certain product
before he/she did make a call in someone. It is really just that impossible to think that if ever you have spoke up to someone then suddenly those recommendation pops up?
If you havent been able to search up or mention it out into your mobile phone then this one would really be able to freak you out and could raise up those kind of question.

Its not really that shocking anymore that these companies or corporations is really that serious on trying to track everything on which their potential customers that they are seeking on such product.
On todays technological advancement then it would really be that too easy in speaking about accessibility but of course if theres Pro's then there would be always
a con's into it. So its not really that shocking anymore.

It's agreeably the way the world works right now, having to receive pop ups with ads on our search history and desires, having to get notifications that give detailed description in line with our last or latest purchases. To crown it all up, the introduction of AI technology to the society has more than given a free hand to the infringement on individual privacy and with regulators breathing down the neck of Crypto exchanges, it's quite a difficult scenerio to try and evade the spy programs and software that run seamlessly on our devices for which we have no control over.

We are indeed the product and the best way to be on top is to either avoid the use of internet or to design suitable software to ensure our maximum privacy from all running spyware on our devices. Best bet this days is to use antivirus and antispy wares.

There's a reason why in an interview where we could see Zuck's laptop, he had a piece of duct tape over it. I doubt that he was worried about being hacked I'm not even going to start about that problem with Amazon Alexa

Amazon will fork over $30m in fines for multiple privacy violations, including allowing Ring employees to spy on customers, creating a security atmosphere ripe for hackers, and illegally keeping Alexa recordings of children’s voices.
https://cybernews.com/privacy/amazon-30m-fine-ring-spying-alexa-child-privacy-violations/

I'm sure most of us had this happened that we'd talk about buying something, open google and that exact thing would appear in a popup window with a discount... It could be a coincidence, but how many of you guys get a diesel power generator ads, or windshield wipers for your car. Some of these are pretty specific.

Let's not mix apples and oranges. I too am aware of governments listening, I was aware of Google/Apple etc spying using search history for example. But this is something new, it only appeared recently. I'm starting to suspect they're using some kind of AI (AdGPT?  ) to collect data (via mic and possibly camera), process it and deliver ads based on this data. The thing is that it's illegal and most people are clueless what's going on in their phones. 

Check all of the apps installed to your phone and go to your settings and see what are the permissions your phone allowed to these apps automatically.

You can modify it since it is on your phone so you better explore and read more information about allowing apps on your phones and stuff about the permissions you are granting on them.

It might work and also turn off as well the camera permission. But I am not just sure if they will have a way to turn it on again through updates.

You are not overreacting or being paranoid instead things are really getting out of our hands and yeah I do agree with you that they listen to our voices and that's not new because I knew this for a very long time due to my uncle as he used to explore these things more than I do so when he shared this information with me I did not believe but on trying it I believed. But he also shared a way to stop this feed of ads based on our interests but after trying it did not work well for me (I am mainly talking about FB).

The only thing that came to mind is, that we can turn off the audio permissions that we have given to these corporations spying on us on our smartphones, maybe that will work for you but as a student of technology, I can say spying/eavesdropping is easy for them even we disable the audio permissions. All we can do is ignore this fact, or remove all the setting and extra permissions that we have given to these apps even to the google apps.

I agree even though I've been thinking about this for a long time I can't get a satisfactory answer. Why do our smartphones seem to know what we need? I don't know if it might be from our previous forgotten search on Google or if it was spied on. I think the way to explain it is a little complicated but we can all really understand it. I will not deny that it is proven to be spied on by today sophisticated technology. But to think further it could be really scary if that happened.

that all this time...