Do you want to find out if your phone is "listening" to your conversations? Experts have presented a simple four-step test to help determine this. More details can be found on Tengri Life, referencing dailymail.co.uk.
NordVPN offers a straightforward test that you can easily conduct at home to check if your phone is being eavesdropped on. It all started when the company conducted tests and noticed that advertisements on devices began appearing just a few days after researchers openly discussed a topic they had never searched for on Google.
"We often consider such things normal and harmless, but in reality, it shows that your devices have too much access to personal information and interests," said Marius Briedis, CTO of NordVPN.
So, to determine if your phone is "listening" to you, experts suggest the following four steps:
1. Choose a topic
Think of an unusual topic that you have never discussed or searched for on your phone or other devices. Something that completely deviates from your usual interests.
2. Talk about it
Use the topic as "bait." Discuss it aloud near your phone several times to create a potential trigger for advertising algorithms.
3. Continue using your phone as usual
Do not change your device usage habits; continue using it as you normally would.
4. Evaluate the results
If you start noticing advertisements related to the topic you discussed, it could be a sign that your phone is eavesdropping on your conversations.
Be attentive to anything that may be connected to the topic you are talking or thinking about.
For example, if you mentioned Azerbaijan, pay attention not only to ads that directly reference the country. There may be offers for cheap flights and tours to that destination that suddenly start appearing in your feed.
If you notice that ads begin to reflect the topics and interests you've mentioned, it could be a signal that your device is "listening" to you and using data to tailor targeted ads. Remember, your behavior and conversations can become a source of information for marketing companies.
Company Experiment
Let's see how these steps played out in a specific example. One participant in the study chose the topic of Saudi Arabia and spent several days openly contemplating how much he wanted to visit this kingdom.
On Thursday, he wrote "Saudi Arabia" in his notes app, and by Sunday, just three days later, ads on the topic began to appear in his feed. Although the participant's Facebook had never shown interest in this country before, it now started suggesting ads for hotels in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia.
Share in the comments, dear readers, have you encountered a similar phenomenon? Do you think your phone is "listening" to you?
Previously, we reported that WhatsApp has introduced another useful feature. More details here.