I’m 100% sure our phones are listening to us – and I’ve got proof
I-SPY I thought I was paranoid but now I’m 100% sure our
phones are listening to us – and I’ve got proof
Here, Sun Online's Miranda Knox investigates whether our
mobile phones are spying on us
By Miranda Knox 21st March 2019, 3:53 pm
HAVE you ever been talking about a pair of trainers or
holiday destination, and then suddenly seen an advert for that precise thing
pop up on social media?
Us too. As incredible as it sounds, it might be because
our phones are secretly spying on us.
It's a question I've been asking for a while after seeing
adverts for things I've been talking about - but not searching - popping up on
my phone.
While we are all used to targeted ads - seeing pictures
of things we've just searched for appearing in ad spaces on the websites we
visit after - many people think advertisers and phone companies are taking this
one step further.
If voice recognition apps like Siri and Bixby are always
listening for commands, is it really beyond the realm of possibility that they
are also sending ads our way based on what we're talking about?
While tech giants including Facebook and Apple vehemently
deny they are using phones to listen into customers' conversations and then
sell the data onto advertisers, I wasn't so sure I believed them.
So I decided to investigate and run a scientific
experiment to find out why I was getting these ads, and prove my theory one way
or another.
I pulled together a list of topics - businesscards,
spandex, vegan food - stuff I had never Googled before, and began talking about
them in earshot of my phone.
I made sure my phone's microphone was turned on in all my
apps, and kept using social media- like Facebook and Instagram - in exactly the
same way.
'It was never ending'
Within days I was inundated with ads related to these key
words.
Firstly, I got an advert offering 50 per cent off my
first purchase of business cards - something I’d never thought about or
searched for before but had talked about with a friend, with my phone on the
coffee table next to us.
While I happily eat meat, I also told my friend I had
plans to cook up some healthy vegan dishes using a new cookbook instead.
Sure enough, I was subjected to an advert for healthy
vegan meal plans later that day.
The same pattern followed with all of the things I spoke
about.
I had a conversation with my husband about getting an
armchair while my phone was next to me on the sofa - and I was inundated with
furniture ads.
Was it a coincidence, or was my phone actually listening
to my conversations and reporting back? I felt like I was being spied on.
Paranoia, or a disturbing reality?
Next, I started by talking about university courses, and
cheap student accommodation to my younger sister while my phone was on the
kitchen counter next to us.
Since graduating from Cardiff University in 2010, I’ve
never expressed a desire to do a second degree, but instantly I got adverts for
open days at a London university inviting me to “learn more about our degrees”.
Later, my freaked-out sister messaged me a screenshot of
an advert she’d got on her own social media - for student housing.
When I suggested to a mate over coffee that I wanted to
dye my hair blonde while my phone was on the table between us, a hair dye ad
helpfully popped up two hours later.
A discussion with a friend who is getting married about
how unflattering flesh-coloured shaping underwear is then led to an ad trying
to sell me “shape-wear I’ll actually want to wear” later that day.
I even received a sponsored advert from the Department of
Health, advertising social care jobs after speaking to my friend’s mum about
her role as a social worker - a profession I have never shown an interest in.
‘Our phones can listen to us’
While my experiment might not provide 'concrete proof'
that our phones are listening to us, I am convinced - and so are the experts.
"Our phones are meant to only record when we issue
the right trigger word, like 'Hey Siri' or 'Okay Google', but because it needs
to listen for these commands, it always has an ear open," says Dr Peter
Henway, a senior security consultant for cyber-security firm Asterix.
Cyber expert Edward Whittingham is even more convinced.
"I’m not surprised that people are receiving targeted
ads based on their conversations - it’s happened to me too," he says.
“There’s no question as to whether or not our phones can
listen to us, but the million-dollar question is are they? The answer - we
don't know.
“Only a few weeks ago I was talking to my wife about the
parking on our road and when I accessed Facebook the following morning I saw an
advertisement to rent car spaces out in the local area- including the exact
name of the town in which I live.
“Imagine how much more valuable advertising is to a
company selling a product when they know, with a fair amount of accuracy, that
you’re actively interested in that product?
“There lies the incentive and motivation for listening to
our conversations.
"There are some arguments to say that seeing these
adds could be based around a probability phenomenon - you might think that you
are being listened to because the adverts are so accurate, but we have to also
remember the amount of data that these organisations hold about us that can
help them."
How to stop your phone listening to you
Worried about your privacy and want to take precautions?
Security expert and Defenceworks.com founder Edward Whittingham suggests
examining your apps. He says: “A good starting point would be to review the
permissions you have on your mobile devices. “Check what permissions each of
the apps on your device has – you might be surprised at just how many have or
request access to your microphone, camera or even phone contacts, when there’s
no obvious or tangible reason as to why they’d need it. “Obviously, turning off
the permissions for the microphone for all but essential apps is a great place
to look first.”
If you’re concerned and have an iPhone, you can also
switch off Siri as a precaution.
Open up your settings, then ‘Siri and search’ and switch
off the ‘allow Siri when locked’ option.
You can also either delete your social media apps from
your phone, or switch off the microphone in each one, which can be done in
‘settings’.
If you have an Android, you can go to settings and turn
off the microphone, and disable ‘OK Google’.
Eavesdropping on ‘private’ messages
It’s not just public social media sites that I’m
suspicious about either.
Previously, I’ve questioned if Whatsapp - who insist
messages are encrypted and are private - are also monitoring data too.
During a ‘private’ Whatsapp text conversation, my friend
told me about a clothing brand she really liked called Nobody’s Child, and sent
me a screenshot of a red jumpsuit she’d just bought.
“Ooh yeah, very nice - never heard of the brand,” I
replied, making a mental note to have a look when I got a second.
However, before I had the chance to, I was confronted
with an advert on Facebook for the very same clothing brand.
Just a coincidence? I don't think so.
Not sure? Try it for yourselves
It might sound far-fetched, but Edward recommends trying
out the experiment at home for yourself.
He says: “If readers aren’t sure, I’d encourage them to
try it for themselves – pick an obscure topic that you’ve never searched for
you on your device and start talking about it in earshot of your phone.
Facebook was contacted for comment, and while denying the
action, did not provide an official response, stating that this investigation
"wasn't newsworthy".
Amazon, Samsung, Huawei and Sony failed to comment.
But whether they deny it or not, I'm now 100 per cent convinced
my phone has been listening to me.
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