Big Brother Listening In

Have you ever had a discussion with your spouse or friend about some new idea, and then sat down at your computer and seen an ad for that very product?
You may have seen the news articles showing rooms full of computers that are listening to everything? They say this is to prevent insurgents from planning destructive actions in US (and other places), but did you know they also use it for marketing and tracking?
If you have a cell phone, it has a mic. If you have a device like Alexa, it also has a mic, or Ring doorbell, maybe indoor cameras, or mics on your laptops etc.
Big Brother is listening.
Now with the Virus Trump in charge... well, not sure what to expect. Somehow I doubt he will turn all that off, too much money to be made there, but it wouldn't surprise me if he did. He is pretty stupid.

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

I've noticed some peeople blame their "smart"-'phones.

I don't. Two reasons: firstly the telephone has to be switched on and set to make a voice-call. Secondly, it would need interception by the service-provider, whichI consider unlikely and very likely illegal.

(It would be very illegal in the UK where all telephonic and postal communications are under Official Secrets Act protection - or certainly were. I hope still are.)

Much more likely, there was a legal eavsedropper like an 'Alexa' or perhaps some types of "Smart" television in the room and on at the time. Many people leave things switched on so habitually they forget thay have.

Equally likely, the events were co-incidences. The advertisements would have come anyway, invited by previous use of social-media, on-line shopping, shop loyalty-cards and commercial web-site viewing with the tracking-cookies left on. They were espcially noticeable because they happened to arrive after a conversation about the subject.

......

If you really are frightened of your portable telephone...

Switch it off - unless or until you need make a call or are expecting one for a genuinely important reason.

Unimportant calls can be handled by messages you can read or ring back later.

After all, you don't use it while driving (illegal in many countries anyway), and are polite enough to switch it off for a religious service, public lecture, public library, theatre or other public-entertainment event or simply in an ordinary social gathering... Aren't you?