See if your phone is listening to your private conversations. Learn how to protect your data.
When you log into social media, websites, or search engines, you may have come across a mysterious advertisement. It’s no surprise that you’ll see advertisements for a product you’ve been talking about out loud to someone.
For this reason, you’ve probably wondered if your cell phone is spying on your conversations and desires. But is your phone really listening to your conversations? Read on to find out.
Does the phone record you?
Yasodara Cordova, head of privacy research, and Caio Gomez, chief data officer at Unico, a company specializing in digital identity, sum up the answer: “No, our phone does not record us.”
In fact, this includes statistics and a lot of data collection, but not audio recordings of conversations. Yasodara explains that this data is not collected without the user's consent. By clicking to accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, you are granting the app and other connected services access to various sensors that collect data such as your location and contact list.
This information is necessary to provide services on the Internet. In addition, experts add that it does not make financial sense to collect all of users' voice data. If voice processing were done, mobile data consumption would increase significantly, which users would notice. In addition, this whole process would cause the battery to drain faster.
How do companies collect data?
They focus on metadata and behavioral patterns. If you visit a friend's house and talk about a cell phone brand, for example, the company sees where you went based on your location, so if your friend searches for that brand later, it shows that you are also a target for that ad, explains director Caio Gomez. By analyzing these connections, technology companies create advertising scenarios.
How to improve your privacy
Many apps and websites, such as WhatsApp and Facebook, require certain information to maintain their services. They require access to your camera and microphone to perform certain functions. However, this is not mandatory on all platforms. When in doubt, only allow access to the data you need. Buying a product, registering on a website, liking or commenting on a photo on social media, or even driving a car equipped with GPS, all of these actions allow companies to provide you with a service. But this is our information. Therefore, regularly check the permissions of the apps you install.
For example, you need to be mindful of your privacy when using apps developed by unknown companies or with questionable terms of use, the researchers explain. Some basic security tips to always follow include not sharing accounts, not using default or very simple passwords, and use VPN if necessary. Another point that Yasodara emphasizes is that the internet is full of conspiracy theories, so if in doubt, consult an expert. If in doubt, it is worth reading the terms and conditions and asking the service provider directly what personal data is used.
