
Ask HN: Is there any way an app can listen conversations secretly and show ads? - sahin-boydas
I am a person who is pretty aware of what i search what i type.<p>I had few instances that i heard an ad on radio and chat with my wife or my friends and sometime after i see an ad on the mobile web. (i am 100% sure i didnt do any searches about it)
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ackidacki
There's no conspiracy. The guys who make the ads target radio and the web in
the area the radio broadcast was made.

The radio ad is for familiarity and the web is to get people to get whatever
it is.

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vegcel
Yes, if they have access to your microphone, pull audio and convert it to
text, search keywords and display ads. It's not really practical though, and
there are other behaviors which are way better and easier to track for
advertising purposes.

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Nadya
See:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBnDWSvaQ1I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBnDWSvaQ1I)

I tested this with my mother, telling her about this in person and talking
about dog toys. My mother does not have a dog - but by the end of our 2 hour
talk about how much she wanted to get her dog a dog toy she was getting
advertisements for dog toys and dog food on Facebook.

She has an iPhone.

~~~
romanovcode
iPhone or Android does not matter. You need to disable microphone access to
Instagram, Facebook and Facebook Messenger if you wish them to not listen to
you.

Actually if you are on Android I'm pretty sure there is no way to disable
google listening to you 24/7.

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saiprashanth93
What is your source for google listening to your microphone all the time on
Android?

~~~
savethefuture
"Ok Google"

