Smartphone or Spyphone?
Is your smartphone spying on you? There's a way to find out...
Conspiracy theorists have long gone on about whether or not your phone is spying on you - but to the trusting phone user, it's come to light that they are actually spying on you.
The truth of the matter is that they are listening to you and helping marketing firms target you. According to a recent article in Sowetan Live: "This is according to the global virtual private network service provider NordVPN, which found in a study it conducted that there was a 5% increase in the installation of monitoring apps in 2020."
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They would rather have you believe that it has to do with marketing, research, and serving you better, but is there more to this than we know...
The article revealed that according to Daniel Markuson, NordVPN's digital privacy expert: "Virtual assistants like Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa listen to their users all the time. They have to constantly listen so they can hear the voice command and assist. However, some of the things people say are being recorded for companies' own benefits, like improving the service quality or for marketing purposes.".
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Markuson further added: “When you ask Google Assistant or Siri to find something, this information is used for online advertising. It’s no different from typing something into Google Search. If you’re looking for car dealerships in your city, related ads will start chasing you across the internet. In a way, a virtual assistant is just another search engine.”
The sort of good news - you can test if your phone is listening to you (or should we say spying on you - it somehow sounds more James Bond-y). Here's how:
How to test your phone:
- Select a good topic. It should be something that couldn’t be associated with your personality, something you never talk about.
- Isolate the topic from your phone. Do not use your phone or any other device to search for information on this topic. The best way to do so is to think of it in your head. Make sure you have never Googled this topic.
- Select keywords. Think of a list of keywords that could trigger search engines.
- Discuss the topic out loud next to your phone. You can do this alone or with someone else for several minutes at a time. Do so for a few days in a row. Make sure you don’t search for the topic in any other way — your phone’s only contact with it should be hearing you talk about it.
“Once you have done this, notice if new ads have started targeting you on social media or other digital channels. If they have, your phone is probably helping these ads reach you.”
The question on all our minds is: is this legal? Well, that's why they always get you to tick the terms and conditions box. Since users are required to tick the terms and conditions box when using their virtual assistants - it is completely legal. And, well, since many people don't take the time to read those T's and C's - that's how they get away with it.
Markuson advised that you can protect your privacy by reviewing the app permissions. So there you have it - we can't plead ignorance, as technically it is our duty to stay informed before giving our applications permission.
Vic will be doing the test on his show so tune in to Vic's show and join the conversation about how to test if your phone is spying on you...
Image courtesy of iStock.