Google's listening..?

[sumi]

I went to town with a friend this morning to try and find chicken feed, since our feedstore is closed today. Neither of us knew where the feedstore in the next big town was, so I Googled it on my phone and clicked on the directions to see the map. On the way there we made some idle chit chat about this and that and my friend mentioned the railway we crossed was one he used to walk along as a youngster, so we talked about railway tracks for a bit. Suddenly my phone came to life and I heard the lady's voice that is giving us directions say something about "tracks" Please note, apart from the railway track we crossed before, there was NOTHING on route to with tracks that she needed to point out to us. I held the phone up to my mouth and said loudly "Are you listening to our conversation, Google?"

A few months ago something similar happened when we were driving and my DS asked something about the "Big Bang theory" The phone answered him.

Be careful what you discuss or say when you're using Google's navigation service is all I'm saying...

 

[CrealCritter]

We have Alexa, only use it for making shopping lists. Sometimes she just starts talking.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

Yes. If you keep the locator turned on, as well as using Google voice.....you are basically bugged. Google....is listening

https://www.guidingtech.com/stop-google-from-listening-to-you/

 

[sumi]

We have Alexa, only use it for making shopping lists. Sometimes she just starts talking.

There is NO WAY I'd allow one of those in my house. Having my phone listening to my conversations is bad enough, thanks!

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

I hate to be in the paranoid sector...but really.....how much is TOO MUCH information necessary for the average resident on planet Earth.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

I refuse to use google voice, and for the most part keep my locator turned off. I don't even sync my devices. To me, that is far too much TMI.

 

[tortoise]

agreed! no smart phone for me!!! No locator on my device! and I block the ads because they're so dang creepy!!! Once I was talking to a friend in private FB message. She mentioned enchiladas for supper at her house and the next day I started getting ads on FB for mccormick enchilada spice packets. We stopped using FB for messages after that!!!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Right... which means it's constantly listening for you to say that!

 

[baymule]

did anyone else notice that they have admitted that the Chinese placed "back door programming" in ALL of their electronics? And it doesn't help to buy "made in the US" because all the chips are now made in China.

And we shipped them all our jobs, now the pay back for being stupid.

 

[sumi]

I went and picked up the tablet today and since I must confess I don't care much for Xmas decided to let DS have at it. He had a go at the Alexa and got an error of some sort It doesn't seem to be working, or needs setting up or something. Either way, he lost interest in her/it immediately.