Just had (another) weird coincidence happen.

Quick backstory:
A few days ago I was troubleshooting (what I thought) was a defective porch light (replaced an old fixture with a new one - which wouldn't light up once installed). Further investigating led me to realize that the light switch itself had an intermittent fault in it as well.

Anyways, during a subsequent (landline) phone conversation with my sister (my android phone was nearby, within earshot), I relayed this story to her, including having to replace the light switch.

Shortly afterwards I started seeing Home Depot ads on my Facebook feed for...Lutron light switches (exactly like the one I replaced). I NEVER searched for or looked them up anywhere during my troubleshooting - all I did was walk out to the garage and grab one that I already had on hand.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened.
I can't recall all of the details, but a few years ago I was at a gathering of friends, and one of them mentioned some obscure product, which then started showing up in sidebar ads on websites I visited shortly afterwards.

And one last one:
Also a few years ago I was in Monterey, near Cannery Row (by Gump's restaurant), when I pulled up Google maps (to look around the area for what other restaurants were nearby).
Since I had the phone out, I decided to check some email as well - and in the junk mail folder (NOT Gmail, but a non-Gmail email account) was a freshly delivered email from...Gump's.
Either a very strange coincidence, or my phone tied my other email account to my Google identity, and conveyed that to whatever algorithm sends out ads (apparently in real-time, as I was literally standing in front of Gump's when it arrived).

Anyways, that is all. I'm convinced that smartphones are constantly listening in, and acting on what they hear.

definitely.

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"one door closes and another window opens"
Vlad the Impailer.

"I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion."
Alexander the Great

When you look at a map and you see exactly where traffic is congested and where it isn't, how do you think that happens? Collected data.

Quote
SDGuy
I'm convinced that smartphones Android-based devices are constantly listening in, and acting on what they hear.

T,FTFY



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/20/2023 02:02PM by Article Accelerator.

Quote
Article Accelerator

Quote
SDGuy
I'm convinced that smartphones Android-based devices are constantly listening in, and acting on what they hear.

T,FTFY

I am pretty sure the original was correct. I have seen this on iPhone as well. I think I disabled listening on mine for most apps, but my wife has not, and I have these things pop up every once in a while (ads based on conversation, not searches).

it's Facebook that is probably doing that, sometimes with IP addresses as the connection, other times with the "microphone" permissions on the app. I don't use the FB app and it still happens because it's using some other means (must be Google)

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So get back to work and sweat some more
The sun will sink, and we'll get out the door
It's no good for man to work in cages
Hits the town, he drinks his wages
You're frettin', you're sweatin'
But did you notice you ain't gettin'?

Just because you don't have a FB account doesn't mean they aren't tracking you and sending you ads.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map