There are ways to stop your smartphone from 'listening' to your conversations and suggesting ads to you
MOST of us must have experienced this. Moments after we talked about something, a product or a place to go, even without searching for it, there will be advertisements popping up in our social media pages on what we've just talked about.
According to virtual private network (VPN) service provider NordVPN, a lot of people suspect that their phones have been used to spy on them for marketing purposes.
Last year, a study by NordVPN found that there was a five per cent increase in the installation of monitoring apps.
Yet some users still suspect that their smartphones are spying on them even if there is no monitoring apps installed. And their suspicions were correct all along.
"This is actually true. Virtual assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa will listen to their users all the time. They have to constantly listen so they can hear the voice command and assist," said the company.
However, some of the things people say are being recorded for the companies' own benefit, like improving service quality or for marketing purposes.
"When you ask Google Assistant or Siri to find something, this information is used for online advertising. It's no different from typing something into Google Search," said NordVPN digital privacy expert Daniel Markuson.
"If you're looking for car dealerships in your city, related ads will start chasing you across the Internet. In a way, a virtual assistant is just another search engine," he said.
IS IT LEGAL?
When users utilise a virtual assistant, they must agree to the terms and conditions of the service provider.
According to NordVPN, since users have given their consent, it becomes legal for Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa to track conversations for marketing purposes.
"It only becomes illegal if an app is spying on you without your consent. That's why it's essential to review the permissions you're giving to specific services and learn about the ways your phone is tracking you," said Markuson.
USER EXPERIENCE
When asked about the above matter, public relations practitioner Samuel Tan believes that his smartphone does "listen" to his conversations, at least from what he experienced.
"I understand that I have allowed such 'listening' to some extent for some apps on my devices, such as the personal assistants — Apple Siri and Google Assistant — which I am okay with the personalisation for better enjoyment of the overall experience," he said.
Tan gave an example of how a discussion he had with his kids was used to promote something to him.
"We were discussing basketball and after that, I started to receive offers from NBA-related sites for their league pass. At some point, I also received ads related to the NBA teams," he said.
"Recently, I frequently listen to an artist on my Homepod. After that I received an ad about the artist performing in Kuala Lumpur," he added.
Despite receiving the ads, Tan is okay with them.
"There are selected apps that I have allowed access to the phone's 'microphone', which would be the main thing 'listening' to my daily conversations. However, I am also careful not to discuss or expose too much personal information," he said.
Tan said as consumers, we should balance this without compromising our personal privacy, which is key.
"For better enhancement of the overall experience, we should be cautious of what we disclose or speak about with device presence.
"Do bear in mind that it is not only our devices that are 'listening', but also the devices of our loved ones, families, friends and associates when we are together discussing something or simply chilling out," he added.
DIFFERENT VIEW
However, cybersecurity consultant Muhammad Adrian Wong has a different view.
"Technically, my phone isn't listening to my conversations (at least that is what Apple says), but the mobile apps installed in our smartphone are," he said.
Wong recalled he and his wife's experience when they were in San Francisco, California, in 2017.
"We were resting in our hotel room and had switched on television, and there was an advertisement blaring about Extremax cable subscription.
"Right there and then, I opened the Facebook app on my phone and an advertisement on Extremax immediately appeared in my personal feed, offering subscription.
"It was my Facebook Messenger app that 'heard' the TV advertisement as I've used it for video/voice conferencing and gave it permission to utilise my smartphone's microphone," he said.
"In Sept 16, 2020, when Apple iOS 14 was launched, it surely hurt Facebook's advertising engine because Apple had made it harder for Facebook to target advertisements to iPhone users," he added.
"Plus, when the newly enforced accept-my-cookies on websites became voluntary, it also affected advertising 'travelling' from the mobile device to the laptop/desktop browser."
Commenting on the ads that keep popping up on his phone screen, Wong said: "I'm all for advertisements following me everywhere and introducing me to competitor brands and services.
"At least it saves me time from reading reviews and watching comparison videos on YouTube. Plus, if it is something that I really wanted to buy, it acts as my reminder or to-do list," he said.
Besides smartphones, Wong also has two Google Homes (voice-activated devices) and an Amazon Alexa listening to him 24/7 on a prompt of "Hey Google" or "Alexa" — to turn on the living room lights in his house.
"My whole family is cool with voice-activated devices and Big Tech listening to our conversations and recording our waveforms to correctly identify individuals. It is both a double-edged sword," he said.
PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY
You can always protect your privacy if you don't like to see advertisements related to your conversations on your social media pages.
First of all, you should review your app permissions.
"Once access is granted, the app can do whatever it wants with that data. So, build a routine to review your phone's app permissions and think twice before agreeing to an app's demands," said Markuson.
He said some apps may want to access your microphone without any reason.
"This might allow bad actors to spy on you in the background or collect ad-targeting data when you don't want them to listen," he added.
To prevent this, go through your smartphone's settings and make sure that apps can access only the resources needed to do their job.
Clear your browsing activities once in a while and turn off the audio recording function. Apple, Google and other service providers also allow the deletion of dictation history. Carefully choose the information you tell your phone in general.
"Also, don't share too much information with your phone. The less it knows, the better," said Markuson.