Do you ever wonder if your smart devices are spying on you and sending your data to advertisers? If so, you are not alone. Many people have reported experiences of seeing ads related to their private discussions on social media or other platforms. Is this really happening, or is it just a coincidence?
Well, let's start with an email we received from Nena of Orange Park, Florida, who shares her thought-provoking experience with her smartphone.
"I am sure our phones are listening. I live in the same town as my parents. My 102-year-old grandpa is in an assisted living facility. My father and my aunt take him to the doctors and visit him frequently. My aunt planned a vacation. My grandfather was coming down with pneumonia.
I went over to my parents on a Saturday morning. We sat in the living room as my father updated me on the situation with my grandfather. He was telling me my aunt requested if he passed while she was on vacation if the funeral home could accept him to go ahead and schedule his cremation. He no longer wants to be buried. All we did was sit around and talk.
The next day my mom calls me. She logged into Facebook... and now she is being targeted by ads for cremation. Her comment to me was "that’s weird- this is the first time ever I have received ads regarding cremation.
Microphone access to Facebook is off. Out of curiosity I checked all of our phones. In the room where we spoke we each had our phones and there was an Alexa device.
What I think? This is not the 1st time something like this has happened. Someone is definitely listening!!" — Thank you, Nena
We've heard many stories like this one of people who say their phones or other devices are listening in, and the truth is, they are.
In Nena’s case, the thing that might have influenced the ads that her mother saw was likely her daughter's Alexa device. Alexa devices use voice data from interactions with customers to provide relevant ads on Amazon or other sites where Amazon places ads. It’s possible that one family member asked Alexa a related question.
The frustrating part about this is when our devices start sending us targeted ads after eavesdropping on those conversations they were not needed for, which is just what happened to Nena's family with their Alexa device.
Researchers from the University of Washington, University of California-Davis, University of California-Irvine and Northeastern University concluded that Amazon and third parties collect data from your interactions with Alexa through Echo smart speakers and share it with as many as 41 advertising partners.
Here are some steps you can take to restrict how often your Alexa devices are listening in.
Another way to stop Alexa from listening is by muting the device to disable its microphone.
Those steps are intended to help you temporarily disable Alexa’s microphone on your device. This means that Alexa will not be about to hear or respond to voice commands until you enable the microphone again.
Alexa also keeps a history of voice recordings that you can delete if you don't want the device to have a record of them.
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