What if I told you that google and Facebook know you better than you know yourself? These companies receive the bulk of their revenue from advertisements and have invested heavily in software that tracks your every click. They compile data regarding your browsing history and target you with advertisements that you are most likely to respond to. For instance, if you research about renewable energy for one week, a large percentage of pop-up adverts will be about solar panels, energy saving items etc. That is just an example. If you are a gambler, you will most likely see adverts about betting websites etc. On another issue, google and Facebook know the general area where you live which I find rather invasive. Try logging into your email in another country and you might have to verify that it is you. I understand that it is a security measure, but how these companies collect personal data that you leave on your digital footprint to later use against you by bombarding you with adverts is a cause for concern.
Ok Captain Obvious
ever heard of GDPR? if yes then you are safe
Dis you know that google listens to you all the time. Talk about a product that you may have never thought of buying next to your computer and see it appear in you ads within a few hours.
Muliniambia niweke Ublock Origin. Sjaona ads kwa miezi kadhaa
adporn ya ma tranny wananirushia sana
At least they bring ads that are relevant to our needs and not random time wasting ads. This is a plus for me.
GDPR is only EU’s thing. I wish Africa could pass regulations on data protection too. Meanwhile, they will still collect the data they want in Africa.
In a way, it prevents you from learning new things
A couple in Portland, Oregon joked that their Amazon Alexa might be listening in to their private conversations.
The joke came to an abrupt end when they discovered a conversation was indeed recorded by Alexa - and then sent to an apparently random person in their contact list.
“Unplug your Alexa devices right now!” warned the puzzled recipient, according to ABC affiliate station KIRO7, which first reported the story.
Amazon has an explanation as to what happened. But first, here’s how Danielle - who didn’t want to share her surname with ABC’s reporter - described the rather alarming chain of events.
It starts with a phone call from a person working for Danielle’s husband.
“He proceeded to tell us that he had received audio files of recordings from inside our house,” Danielle says.
“At first, my husband was, like, ‘no you didn’t!’ And the [recipient of the message] said, ‘You sat there talking about hardwood floors.’ And we said, ‘oh gosh, you really did hear us.’”
Creepy, eh? Today’s hardwood floors might be tomorrow’s intimate sweet nothings.
So I asked Amazon what could possibly have caused this to happen, and here’s what a spokesperson said:
“Echo woke up due to a word in background conversation sounding like ‘Alexa’.”
Ok…
“Then, the subsequent conversation was heard as a ‘send message’ request.”
Uh-oh…
“At which point, Alexa said out loud ‘To whom?’ At which point, the background conversation was interpreted as a name in the customer’s contact list.”
Bit of a stretch, but fine…
“Alexa then asked out loud, ‘[contact name], right?’ Alexa then interpreted background conversation as ‘right’”
This is getting ridiculous.
“As unlikely as this string of events is…”
You’re telling me!
“…we are evaluating options to make this case even less likely.”
One option immediately springs to mind.
For what it’s worth, Danielle told ABC that there were no audible warnings from Alexa that it (she?) was doing anything.
And to offer one suggestion - sometimes the voice can be pretty quiet, especially if you’re deep in conversation about hardwood floors.
It’s a reminder of the susceptibility of voice-operated devices, particularly ones that want to be as chummy and personal as Alexa.
New villager, saidia sisi!
have you not received those GDPR emails from the services that you use?
I have blocked all ads on my browser and use proxies.
tired of the solar panel adverts popping up even in apps you’d never guess man