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Is Google Always Listening: Live Test [video]

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Re: Is Google Always Listening: Live Test [video]

#11

Post by Paraesthetic »

RikNieu wrote: post #3

I have had this happen with my Xiaomi android phone. I've had a couple of times where I get ads served pertaining to conversations I've had with random people when my phone is laying nearby, silently listenting. No googling the topics from my side, simply random conversation. It even seems to be able to translate conversations in my native language into displaying English ads. Creepy as hell. I'm thinking of going ba…

Make sure its not just cognitive reticulation, and the priming of your brain where previously you wouldn't have noticed these things.

Re: Is Google Always Listening: Live Test [video]

#13

Post by rcheu »

The fact that this dumb “Google/FB listens to you in the background and uses it to serve ads” myth is still around even on HackerNews is insane to me.

Do you all really think that if this contributed a measureable portion of ads that it wouldn’t leak? There’d also have to be a large amount of hardware dedicated to speech transcription—running constant speech to text on every google chrome browser would need so much compute.

Not to mention that it’d be possible to actually show that the company was lying by modifying microphone drivers and showing that they activate in the background. I’m pretty sure you could also just do it the same way they make game hacks—get access to chrome memory and show that there’s sections that match the recorded speech.

Indisputable proof that this happens would be a PR disaster for either company and cause legal action too.

I’m really in dismay at how long this myth has persisted.

Re: Is Google Always Listening: Live Test [video]

#14

Post by Throwawayzoink »

_8j50 wrote: post #10
Throwawayzoink wrote: post #6

One could shoot everything on a desktop and search for dog toys on another device on the same network/IP. I'd bet the guy is trolling.

I'm afraid not. Usually,some app like facebook is involved. You can search for news articles on the subject and see other people's report as well. Not only do they collect voice without consent,personal experience tells me they're also sharing it with usgov(not elaborating on that).

So facebook does speech recognition in realtime for every android device out there and share it in realtime with the many ad networks. Someone is really screwed up at facebook to share such an incriminating secret or business leverage (depending on how you want to see it) with competitors.

The conspiracy theory doesn't seem to hold ground.

Re: Is Google Always Listening: Live Test [video]

#16

Post by gmueckl »

There are lots of anecdotes around about things like this, but correlation does not constitute causation. Where are e.g. the wireshark dumps showing that data was transmitted to some server while/after he was talking? Capturing the traffic should be a simple exercises.

Re: Is Google Always Listening: Live Test [video]

#17

Post by RikNieu »

Paraesthetic wrote: post #11
RikNieu wrote: post #3

I have had this happen with my Xiaomi android phone. I've had a couple of times where I get ads served pertaining to conversations I've had with random people when my phone is laying nearby, silently listenting. No googling the topics from my side, simply random conversation. It even seems to be able to translate conversations in my native language into displaying English ads. Creepy as hell. I'm thinking of going ba…

Make sure its not just cognitive reticulation, and the priming of your brain where previously you wouldn't have noticed these things.

It's not. It shows ads based on other peoples interests or what they have talked about with me. It was about things that wouldn't be in my personal sphere of interests in general. Specific ride-sharing companies, specific speakers a friend bought. A random conversation about a specific and obscure topic I had with my wife...

Lets just say that I'm pretty sure its not may brain going bonkers with pattern recognition here.

Re: Is Google Always Listening: Live Test [video]

#18

Post by gmueckl »

rcheu wrote: post #13

The fact that this dumb “Google/FB listens to you in the background and uses it to serve ads” myth is still around even on HackerNews is insane to me. Do you all really think that if this contributed a measureable portion of ads that it wouldn’t leak? There’d also have to be a large amount of hardware dedicated to speech transcription—running constant speech to text on every google chrome browser would need so much c…

There is a way how this Youtube video might have been faked. It's maybe a bit subtle. Chrome allows multiple user profiles that have the same name. The video starts with a browser window already open. This might not be the default account; this account isn't associated with dog toys.

The window he opens after his monologue uses the default account. This account actually has been prepared to show dog ads. Maybe he looked at the ads before recording the video to get the details of the advertised products right. The rest is good acting to sell this stunt.

If this is how the video was made, then it would be pretty manipulative. I don't like that conclusion at all.

Re: Is Google Always Listening: Live Test [video]

#19

Post by captain_mars »

RikNieu wrote: post #17
Paraesthetic wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Make sure its not just cognitive reticulation, and the priming of your brain where previously you wouldn't have noticed these things.

It's not. It shows ads based on other peoples interests or what they have talked about with me. It was about things that wouldn't be in my personal sphere of interests in general. Specific ride-sharing companies, specific speakers a friend bought. A random conversation about a specific and obscure topic I had with my wife... Lets just say that I'm pretty sure its not may brain going bonkers with pattern recognition h…

I've had the same experience.

Recently, we were visited by my sister-in-law. We ended up talking about a topic, say Topic X. Topic X _never_ comes up when I and my wife are alone; it is simply not a part of our life. We have been married for 15 years, without talking about it even once.

However, it did come up while talking with my s-i-l, and my Android phone was lying nearby. Minutes later, after my sister in law had left, I was presented a Topic X - related ad on YouTube.

It was displayed only once, I ignored it, and no Topic X - related ad was shown after that.

Re: Is Google Always Listening: Live Test [video]

#20

Post by dexen »

rcheu wrote: post #13

The fact that this dumb “Google/FB listens to you in the background and uses it to serve ads” myth is still around even on HackerNews is insane to me. Do you all really think that if this contributed a measureable portion of ads that it wouldn’t leak? There’d also have to be a large amount of hardware dedicated to speech transcription—running constant speech to text on every google chrome browser would need so much c…

Myth or not, the technology's been around for some years[1] [2], and there's a profit to be made from matching consumers and advertisers. One doesn't really need to run voice analysis, just pick a keyword[3] every now and then. You add two and two.

>would be a PR disaster for either company and cause legal action too.

Didn't stop Sony [4], and didn't cost them all that much in money - on the order of $1MM - or reputation either.

--

[1a] https://hackaday.com/2017/05/04/ultrasonic-tracking-beacons/

[1b] https://www.wired.com/2016/11/block-ultrasonic-signals-didnt...

[2] https://www.shazam.com/

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QTzVoaua4s

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootk...

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