"There's no credible evidence that your phone runs a secret, always-on microphone to target ads, and there are clear technical and policy reasons why."

I believe this statement with the important caveat to target ads. The liability exposure of such activity simply for ads revenue does seem to be too high a cost.

Laws matter, too. The federal Wiretap Act bans intercepting conversations without consent, and many states (like California) require all parties to consent, stacking civil and even criminal liability on covert, continuous capture. An "always-listening for ads" feature would constantly record non-consenting bystanders and invite massive legal exposure. I know that's not completely reassuring, but that's why it's implausible in practice.

Of course, with all the data your phone is collecting on you, it probably amounts to the same thing.

"The unsettling feeling that your device is spying on you is real — but the culprit isn't a secret microphone. It's the data broker industry,"

And of course, what the state is doing is an entirely different conversation.

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132 sats \ 2 replies \ @grayruby 5h

I don't know man. I was in a bookstore with my wife about 5 years ago and were looking for something for my son's birthday and we were talking about a board game (not a notable one like monopoloy etc- we had never heard of this game) and I wanted to learn more, look up reviews and as soon as I typed a couple letters into google search on my phone it suggested the exact game we were looking at. I had not been searching for any board games recently this was a spur of the moment thing. Seems highly unlikely that some random, not very popular board game, is the first result of any two letter combination.

So it was either listening or google had my location pinned not only to the store but also to the section of the store.

40 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 5h

I've had similar experiences.

Just curious though, what was board game name? Maybe we can run a quick test

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 5h

I don't even recall. I just remember turning to my wife and showing her the suggested result and we were both like "that thing is listening to us" haha.

109 sats \ 2 replies \ @justin_shocknet 5h

At first you may suspect this article is gaslightning bullshit because we've all experienced exactly what they say isn't happening.

But let's read between the lines a bit:

The federal Wiretap Act

If my autistic pattern recognition on how media works is right again, we'll hear a lot more about this Federal Wiretap Act over the next year or two until there's a a high profile court case around it.

The purpose of these crumbs would be to "educate" the public on the existence and implications of this act so that "the stage is set" with regards to public opinion when that case is front and center in the news cycle.

That case will have already been story-boarded long before we hear about it, and the story will culminate in what is effectively disclosure of large scale government action that already happened behind closed-doors. That new regulation, judicial precedent, enforcement actions, or other such thing will dominate a news cycle-because it involves a large company or products everyone uses or has used.

Armchair experts at that time will have several years of articles on this very subject to direct their opinions in a way that makes the outcome acceptable, because by then debate will have been exhausted and attention will be on to the next thing that's seeded years in advance.

Crumbs make bread.

17 sats \ 1 reply \ @Scoresby OP 5h

I am not inclined to agree with the view that so much of our political life is orchestrated...however, you have been slowly reeling me in.

I'm bookmarking this and if it turns out correct, I'm going to have to move significantly closer to your viewpoint.

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @justin_shocknet 5h

Took me awhile for all the pieces to fit, the greatest psyop the government ever pulled was making us think they're incompetent... appear weak when you are strong.

If a movie producer can write a script for a CIA movie with twist, turns and an unpredictable outcome, so can the intelligence community those movies are based upon (and often directly informed by as disclosure ops) with their nearly unlimited resources.

It's a bit liberating in a way to know that most political debates are settled before they've begun in the public sphere, and that outrage and in-fighting is laregely manufactured in an "art of the deal" sort of way. Politicians are front-men and actors just following a script, and that there is no one-government or two parties, just a battlefield which is why these clandestine maneuvers are needed in the first place.

Enjoy the popcorn.

123 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 9h

That’s exactly what they’d say if they were spying on us for advertisers!

134 sats \ 0 replies \ @JesseJames 7h

Bingo. If the government says you don't need a gun, you definitely need a gun, or two...lol

102 sats \ 1 reply \ @OT 8h

I know a bunch of people who say that they have been talking about a topic and immediately after, the phone advertised the exact thing they were talking about. The real problem is that they continue using the products and platforms. The first time it happened should have been a warning to either learn more or change. The social norms are addictive and must have a higher priority for most.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 5h

To be fair, I tried to de-google myself once and was unsuccessful. I live a fairly normie life in the sense that I work a normie occupation and am surrounded by normie friends and family.

165 sats \ 0 replies \ @optimism 10h

The unsettling feeling that your device is spying on you is real — but the culprit isn't a secret microphone

This statement is true. The microphone isn't secret.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @franzap 6h

The microphone MUST be involved, I run Graphene and never get targeted ads in traditional social media when on my own.

However, when I hang with normies and talk about certain subjects or places, I sometimes do get targeted ads.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ladyluck 6h

Between app permissions, browsing habits, and location tracking, phones already know us better than we know ourselves. It’s creepy, but it’s all above-board. No need for a conspiracy when we’re voluntarily handing over the data.