iPhone listening to conversations for advertising?

pinkmonkey045

Hello. I rarely post on here but am slightly freaked out and would love to get advice on whether it is possible for the iPhone/any smartphone to be 'listening' via microphone, and using this to advertise? I am not a person who is overly concerned with internet privacy-however I do have basic cop on when it comes to privacy! I have heard people talking about Facebook using the microphone to record people for advertising research purposes. I don't have Facebook so it's not an issue!

But this evening I noticed an add coming up when reading the indo online - an add about a certain brand of whiskey a colleague and I were discussing earlier today for a few minutes. A brand I have NEVER probably mentioned in my life, and never spoken about! I just got such an odd feeling when I saw this add -could this add be based on the microphone tapping into my conversation earlier? Or just extremely random? (Note I would never googled whiskey before or anything, no interest).

Thoughts welcome! Surely this would be completely illegal for companies to do?

Sad Professor

No.

Apple are about the best when it comes to privacy - nearly all their profits come from hardware sales, so they have no need to sell your data to advertisers. And as bad as Google, Facebook, etc are in this regard, they thankfully aren't that bad.

OU812

The likes of facebook are using open mics for a while now if you have FB installed, it's possible that the indo is using their advertising engine & that's why you saw the ad.

I've noticed all sorts of stuff coming up in various apps.

it's the way forward doncha know

Graham

OU812 wrote: »

The likes of facebook are using open mics for a while now if you have FB installed, it's possible that the indo is using their advertising engine & that's why you saw the ad.

Nope

Its one of many Facebook conspiracy theories.

Facebook Does Not Use Your Phone’s Microphone for Ads or News Feed Stories

Facebook does not use your phone’s microphone to inform ads or to change what you see in News Feed. Some recent articles have suggested that we must be listening to people’s conversations in order to show them relevant ads. This is not true. We show ads based on people’s interests and other profile information – not what you’re talking out loud about.

Source: http://newsroom.fb.com/news/h/facebook-does-not-use-your-phones-microphone-for-ads-or-news-feed-stories/

OU812

OK, try talking about something you don't normally talk about & watch your ads for the next couple of days

Graham

OU812 wrote: »

OK, try talking about something you don't normally talk about & watch your ads for the next couple of days

I find a large tinfoil hat protects me from such covert Facebooks surveillance

To be certain, I have removed the hat and spent the last 5 minutes talking to myself out loud about frozen breaded cod fillets. I will revert immediately should Captain Birdseye make a sudden appearance in my Facebook feed.

pinkmonkey045 wrote: »

Thoughts welcome! Surely this would be completely illegal for companies to do?

Facebook targeted advertising can reach very (very) specific demographics. It is entirely plausible that you and your colleague are both in the target demographic and your colleague saw the ad previously which may have prompted the conversation. It's also possible that your colleague did search for the product you discussed indicating to an advertising algorithm that others in his/her affinity groups would also be interested in the product you discussed.

Graham

Here's an interesting snippet for users of Google products:

Google voice searches records and keeps conversations people have around their phones

It’s found by heading to Google’s history page and looking at the long list of recordings. The company has a specific audio page and another for activity on the web, which will show you everywhere Google has a record of you being on the internet.

The new portal was introduced in June 2015 and so has been active for the last year – meaning that it is now probably full of various things you have said, which you thought might have been in private.
The recordings can function as a kind of diary, reminding you of the various places and situations that you and your phone have been in. But it’s also a reminder of just how much information is collected about you, and how intimate that information can be.

You'll see more if you've an Android phone, which can be activated at any time just by saying "OK, Google". But you may well also have recordings on there whatever devices you've interacted with Google using.

Source: http://www.independent.ie/world-news/google-voice-searches-records-and-keeps-conversations-people-have-around-their-phones-but-the-files-can-be-deleted-35582500.html

Yourself isit

Even if you think Siri was doing this way would that share data with Google?

Siri is not always listening unless you have hey Siri turned on (it is off by default) and you have to be plugged in as it is a battery drain. And in theory it's just listening for that phrase.


Otherwise you have to use the home button where Siri transitions from not listening to sorta listening.

Graham

Yourself isit wrote: »

Even if you think Siri was doing this way would that share data with Google?

FYI, I don't think Siri is doing this.

Apple is not in the business of selling its customers data.

Yourself isit

Graham wrote: »

FYI, I don't think Siri is doing this.

Apple is not in the business of selling its customers data.

Well that was my point. Not that Siri is listening in.

The op saw his add in the indo. I think the indo sells its own add space so there's no tracking. Likely the guy he was speaking to had seen it previously.

Graham

Yourself isit wrote: »

I think the indo sells its own add space so there's no tracking.

Thanks, that made me laugh.

Here's the Ad tracking tech in place on the Indo homepage as of about 20 seconds ago:

• Facebook Domain Insights
• Adometry
• Quantcast Measurement
• MediaMath
• Efficient Frontier
• VoiceFive
• Lotame Crowd Control
• Nielsen//NetRatings
• comScore
• Google Analytics
• Google Universal Analytics
• Google Analytics Classic
• Chartbeat
• DoubleClick Floodlight
• Rapleaf
• Netmining
• OwnerIQ
• Datalogix
• Dotomi
• Signal
• Yieldr
• Moat
• Krux Digital
• Everest Technologies
• Google Analytics with Ad Tracking
• Omniture SiteCatalyst
• PageFair
• Convertro
• Twitter Analytics
• Fraudlogix
• Adobe Marketing Cloud
• Adobe Dynamic Tag Management
• Satellite
• Satellite Usage Statistics - Download list of all Satellite websites
• Yahoo Web Analytics
• Twitter Conversion Tracking
• Twitter Website Universal Tag

pajero12

I think there's some serious naivety on this thread, On more than one occasion I have been sitting in the car listening to music on the radio, and when I opened an app like livescore there'd be a banner ad for a link to buy the track.

Yourself isit

Graham wrote: »

Thanks, that made me laugh.

Here's the Ad tracking tech in place on the Indo homepage as of about 20 seconds ago:

• Facebook Domain Insights
• Adometry
• Quantcast Measurement
• MediaMath
• Efficient Frontier
• VoiceFive
• Lotame Crowd Control
• Nielsen//NetRatings
• comScore
• Google Analytics
• Google Universal Analytics
• Google Analytics Classic
• Chartbeat
• DoubleClick Floodlight
• Rapleaf
• Netmining
• OwnerIQ
• Datalogix
• Dotomi
• Signal
• Yieldr
• Moat
• Krux Digital
• Everest Technologies
• Google Analytics with Ad Tracking
• Omniture SiteCatalyst
• PageFair
• Convertro
• Twitter Analytics
• Fraudlogix
• Adobe Marketing Cloud
• Adobe Dynamic Tag Management
• Satellite
• Satellite Usage Statistics - Download list of all Satellite websites
• Yahoo Web Analytics
• Twitter Conversion Tracking
• Twitter Website Universal Tag

You've won some kind of geek war there I suppose. Well done.

Of course it's irrelevant to the op's query. And I was talking about how the indo sells ads. Not links to twitter etc.

Yourself isit

pajero12 wrote: »

I think there's some serious naivety on this thread, On more than one occasion I have been sitting in the car listening to music on the radio, and when I opened an app like livescore there'd be a banner ad for a link to buy the track.

Siri is not always listening. What device do you have?

Graham

Yourself isit wrote: »

You've won some kind of geek war there I suppose. Well done.

Hold off the huff-fest for a second and think what the relevance may be to the conversation.

Indo -> Facebook -> Advertising ->connections

Graham

pajero12 wrote: »

On more than one occasion I have been sitting in the car listening to music on the radio, and when I opened an app like livescore there'd be a banner ad for a link to buy the track.

Without know what phone/apps you're using it's pretty hard to comment.

A particular track is usually on the radio because its current/popular, one of the reasons its current/popular may be because it is being advertised.

Panimorph

Hey, you could google "Vault 7, March 7, wikileaks"

According to the CIA leaks, it's own Mobile Development Branch "produces malware to infest, control and exfiltrate date from iPhones and other Apple products running iOS, such as iPads"

Graham

Panimorph wrote: »

Hey, you could google "Vault 7, March 7, wikileaks"

According to the CIA leaks, it's own Mobile Development Branch "produces malware to infest, control and exfiltrate date from iPhones and other Apple products running iOS, such as iPads"

Do the CIA run targeted advertising for Whisky and Music?

TresGats

This happens. Well to to me several times. Just try it, Say, "Will I get you some {product) in the shops?" near your computer , if you have your mic switched on , and you will get adverts related to whatever product sites. A friend did his post grad in computers & communications and works for a well known Telecoms Co., he confirmed it, as he happened to be staying for a bit at the time I first noticed it.
I like my mic for Duolingo/ Viber though, I'm always forgetting to turn it off.
Even Mark Zuckerberg covers his camera you know.

Graham

TresGats wrote: »

This happens. Well to to me several times. Just try it, Say, "Will I get you some {product) in the shops?" near your computer , if you have your mic switched , and you will get adverts related to whatever on sites. A friend did his post grad in computers & communications and works for a well known Telecoms Co., he confirmed it, as he happened to be staying for a bit at the time I first noticed it.
I like my mic for Duolingo/ Viber though, I'm always forgetting to turn it off.
Even Mark Zuckerberg covers his camera you know.

That's not an iPhone.

Any links to some real security research? I'd genuinely be interested to see what products are listening in from a desktop PC.

Yourself isit

Graham wrote: »

Hold off the huff-fest for a second and think what the relevance may be to the conversation.

Indo -> Facebook -> Advertising ->connections

The indo sells it's own ads though. They have a sales department like most newspapers. For print, digital or both. If I go to booking.com it follows me here. That's not as obvious on the indo although maybe they do sell some unsold space like that.

Seems more likely to me that the op's friend saw an ad in the indo, looked into it and mentioned it, then the op saw the same add. No other services need be involved.

Panimorph

Do you not consider the CIA leaks to be real research?

If not, what do you consider research?

pajero12

Graham wrote: »

Without know what phone/apps you're using it's pretty hard to comment.

A particular track is usually on the radio because its current/popular, one of the reasons its current/popular may be because it is being advertised.

It was an iPhone 6 Plus at the time, Using an S7 now, And this wasn't a current track at the time

Graham

Yourself isit wrote: »

The indo sells it's own ads though. They have a sales department like most newspapers. For print, digital or both.

While I have no doubt the Indo has it's own sales team

Here's a list of the other 93 advertising networks with a presence on the Indo homepage as of about 45 seconds ago.

• Chango
• Simpli.fi
• Videology
• SiteScout
• Turn
• Rocket Fuel
• DemDex
• Google Publisher Tag
• Advertising.com
• Media Innovation Group
• RadiumOne
• AppNexus
• Atlas
• Aggregate Knowledge
• Mediaplex
• Evidon
• BlueKai
• BlueKai DMP
• DoubleClick.Net
• Google Adsense
• Google Adsense Asynchronous
• AudienceScience
• Digilant
• Openads/OpenX
• The Trade Desk
• Neustar AdAdvisor
• Dstillery
• Connexity
• DoubleVerify
• Tribal Fusion
• Pubmatic
• Rubicon Project
• Burst Media
• Integral Ad Science
• 161Media
• AcuityAds
• eXelate
• Datonics
• Drawbridge
• Criteo
• IponWeb BidSwitch
• AdGear
• Index Exchange
• Tapad
• Adap.TV
• Specific Media
• Flashtalking
• Yahoo Small Business
• VINDICO
• Adconion
• Zedo
• SpotXchange
• ContextWeb
• Adify
• Switch Ads
• Adform
• AOL-Time Warner Online Advertising
• eyeReturn
• Adition
• MyBuys MyAds
• Improve Digital
• Metrigo
• DoubleClick Bid Manager
• Quisma
• Magnetic
• RhythmOne
• TripleLift
• Twitter Ads
• JustPremium
• HotelsCombined
• Nativo
• RUN Ads
• StickyAds TV
• AdMeta
• DynAdmic
• Teads
• AdRoll
• Adnologies
• Eye View Digital
• Bidtellect
• Adobe Audience Manager Sync
• GumGum
• AlephD
• AdsNative
• Crosswise
• Yahoo Ad Sync
• BidTheatre
• Taboola
• Media.net
• ADTECH
• Jumptap
• Yashi
• Facebook Custom Audiences

Graham

Panimorph wrote: »

Do you not consider the CIA leaks to be real research?

If not, what do you consider research?

I'm not sure what relevance it has to confirm/deny the presence of voice triggered advertising.

Tom Dunne

I have to be honest, my Mrs. has encountered this on more than one occasion.

A particular incident that stands out - she was speaking with her friend, on her iPhone and something came up about a dental clinic in Tallaght. Now, we live nowhere near Tallaght, have good teeth and certainly wouldn't refer to it as a "dental clinic". It's a dentist. So it only occurred in that one verbal conversation.

Yet there, on her phone in Facebook was an advertisement for a dental clinic in Tallaght.

That can only lead me to one conclusion.

Graham

Fr. Fluffybottom wrote: »

That can only lead me to one conclusion.

Facebook are flat-out lying at a corporate level? I have my misgivings about Facebook, that wouldn't be one of the,

Would be interesting to see how many people have actually granted the Facebook app access to the microphone on their iPhone. It is something you must specifically allow.

Panimorph

Exactly why I suggested you read the information that is available.


It's a bit hard to disseminate 8000+ pages to you in a few lines, but if you read the 8000+ pages I know you would answer any questions you currently have on the matter. It would probably create new questions however.

Graham

Panimorph wrote: »

Exactly why I suggested you read the information that is available.


It's a bit hard to disseminate 8000+ pages to you in a few lines, but if you read the 8000+ pages I know you would answer any questions you currently have on the matter. It would probably create new questions however.

I'm open to links to research that demonstrate 3rd parties are using voice targeting for advertising. Genuinely. It would probably change my choice of apps/devices.

Link away.

Panimorph

Even if Facebook has their hands clean on this issue, are the not meeting with the government of Pakistan to ban blasphemy this week?

Blasphemy in Pakistan is punishable by death.

And Pakistan is requesting they help "to root out people who post blasphemous material on social media sites from anywhere in the world."

Graham

Panimorph wrote: »

Even if Facebook has their hands clean on this issue, are the not meeting with the government of Pakistan to ban blasphemy this week?

Blasphemy in Pakistan is punishable by death.

And Pakistan is requesting they help "to root out people who post blasphemous material on social media sites from anywhere in the world."

What on earth does that have to do with the topic?