Are our devices listening to us?

The short answer is: No, your phone isn't listening. But why is this rumor so hard to shake? Like you described, sometimes a company's ability to show us an ad for something we were just thinking or talking about is totally uncanny.
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Are devices listening to you?

If you've ever thought someone was secretly eavesdropping on you, you're right. Smartphones and other devices can hear and record what you say, as proven by a now-viral TikTok that showed thousands of audio files recorded on a woman's Echo and Dot speakers and saved in the innermost folders of her Amazon account.
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How can I stop my phone from listening to me?

How to Stop Google From Listening on Android
  1. Open Settings on your phone and enter the Google category.
  2. Select Settings for Google apps > Search, Assistant, & Voice.
  3. Hit Voice on the resulting page.
  4. You'll see a Voice Match entry; tap it.
  5. Disable the Hey Google slider to disable "OK Google" detection.
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Are our phones spying on us?

Your phone is already sending details about itself and its location to various companies. “It's sending the ID of your phone, your location, other apps on your phone, all kinds of information,” Golbeck said. “It's just being shoveled off to places that you don't know.”
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Do our computers listen to us?

listening to me? Why, yes, it probably is. When you use your default settings, everything you say may be recorded through your device's onboard microphone. Our phones routinely collect our voice data, store it in a distant server, and use it for marketing purposes.
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Are our phones listening to us? - BBC News



Is my phone watching me?

To check your mobile data usage on Android, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Data Usage. Under Mobile, you'll see the total amount of cellular data being used by your phone. Tap Mobile Data Usage to see how your data use has changed over time. From here, you can identify any recent spikes.
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Does the orange dot mean someone is listening?

If both are in use, you'll see the green camera dot. So if you use an iPhone and want to know if your phone is listening or watching, glance at the upper-right corner. If you see the small green or orange dot, your microphone or camera is on.
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Does the government watch us through our phone cameras?

In the United States, the government pays phone companies directly to record and collect cellular communications from specified individuals. U.S. law enforcement agencies can also legally track the movements of people from their mobile phone signals upon obtaining a court order to do so.
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Is there a phone that doesn't spy on you?

Discover the Librem 5

The Librem 5 is a phone built on PureOS, a fully free, ethical and open-source operating system that is not based on Android or iOS.
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Is the camera on your phone watching you?

You might never expect someone to be watching you through the camera on your smartphone. The reality is, though, it happens more often than you think. It doesn't matter where you're at, your iPhone could always be listening or even watching.
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Is Google always listening?

How Google Is Listening to You. If it surprises you that Google is always listening to you, Google offers acceptable reasons for keeping the microphone on your mobile device open. The OK Google feature on your phone needs to recognize the words “okay Google” when you speak them.
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Can Google hear my conversations?

Do Phones Listen to You? Companies Say “No” Google and Facebook have both denied that their apps can use smartphone microphones to gather information in this way. Facebook told the BBC that it blocks brands from advertising based on microphone data.
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Why do I hear myself on my cell phone?

In many cases echo is a symptom of acoustic feedback from the phone of the party you are talking to. Your voice travels across the phone system to the other party, their phone's speaker plays the sound, then their phone microphone picks up on that sound and it is transmitted back to your phone as an echo.
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Does TikTok listen?

Given its dubious history with users' privacy, a spokesperson for TikTok who spoke with the Journal was adamant that the app doesn't listen through your microphone or read text messages to serve personalized videos.
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Can my phone hear me talking?

Yes, your phone is listening to you — to an extent and namely through virtual assistant apps, that is. First came Siri in 2011, then came Google Assistant, and then Alexa and Cortana all followed.
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Does Siri always listen Alexa?

Siri and Alexa are always listening, but that doesn't mean you can't have privacy. If you take a quick walk around your home, you will likely spot several Apple, Amazon and Google devices.
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Which is the safest phone in the world?

Top 10 Most Secure Phones
  • #1 Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max Secure Phone.
  • #2 Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Secure Phone.
  • #3 Google Pixel 5 Secure Phone.
  • #4 Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra Secure Phone.
  • #5 Apple iPhone SE Secure Phone.
  • #6 Silent Circle Blackphone 2 Secure Phone.
  • #7 Sirin Labs Finney U1 Secure Phone.
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Which phone is hardest to hack?

Bittium Tough Mobile 2C

In terms of software, the device has two operating systems, with the first one being a hardened version of Android 9 and the second one being the brand's own most secure Phones with OS.
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Is the FBI watching me?

That said, the FBI is most likely not spying on you through your webcam. "As a society, we should be concerned about the increasing amount of surveillance and loss of privacy that we're experiencing," she notes.
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How do you tell if feds are watching you?

Spot Common Signs of Surveillance
  1. Electrical fixture wall plates are slightly out of place. ...
  2. Check your vinyl baseboard – where the floor and wall meet. ...
  3. Look for discoloration on ceilings and walls. ...
  4. A familiar item or sign in your home or office simply looks off. ...
  5. You notice white debris close to a wall.
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Can the FBI see what you do on your phone?

No. Such information is protected from public disclosure, in accordance with current law and Department of Justice and FBI policy.
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Should I be worried about the orange dot on my iPhone?

Is there an orange dot appearing in the top-right corner of your iPhone? Don't worry. It has nothing to do with connectivity or your iPhone's battery. It's simply a feature of iOS 14, the latest operating system which Apple rolled out to iPhones last year.
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Does the green Dot mean someone is listening?

The green indicator appears in the top right corner of your phone's display and is activated when an app is using either the camera or the mic. It serves as a warning to users to be mindful of what parts of the phone an app has access to.
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How do I turn off the orange dot on my iPhone?

You cannot disable the dot since it's part of an Apple privacy feature that lets you know when apps use different phone elements. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size and toggle on Differentiate Without Color to change it to an orange square.
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