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Comment by jkaunisv1 | Hacker News Reader

Also the mobile app listens to what you say and targets ads appropriately (and who knows what else they do with the audio).

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Is this on Android or iOS? Their iOS mobile app does not even ask for permission for microphone. Messenger does, but then I did disable that. Also note that the moment an application on iOS starts using the microphone you have a huge flashing red banner on the top of your screen so they would get caught quite quickly.

This is fascinating. Do you have a source for more information?

You get most of what's been described from social graph + location data + people pattern matching on positives & ignoring the vast number of negatives, so there's not much beyond conspiracy theories ATM.

Definitely possible. The ones I've heard about foreign languages heard in background seem easiest to test.

Sorry, no. I've just read a couple anecdotes about it online recently. One was about a TV show in a foreign language playing in the background causing ads in that language. Another was about a guy talking to a friend about an upcoming trip to Vegas, then getting ads for Vegas. I've never wanted to install the app on my phone so I haven't been able to test it myself.

I started getting ads in Spanish recently and I was totally confused. I've been watching soccer on Telemundo Deportes recently. I wonder if an app was listening in. I'll have to see which apps of mine are using the microphone. I'm guessing it would have to be the standard Google app though, since I don't have Facebook installed on my phone.

Experienced first hand when I said on a FB Messenger call that I was considering buying a Roomba.

Guess what was advertised in my feed later that day?

Note: I hadn't so much as googled Roombas before this - it was a totally off hand remark during a call.

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