How did everyone's "leave your phone on with Spanish TV playing overnight" experiment go? Here's my results:
25 2015-05-01 by [deleted]
Just curious as to whether or not people actually tried this, and wondering what they found. Here are my results:
I don't have any Spanish channels available on TV, as I live in a very rural part of northern New England. I couldn't find a Spanish radio station either. But I did find an ESPN sports radio station and, since I'm not particularly interested in any professional sports, I figured that this might suffice -- sports stuff isn't something I would ever search for or look at on my phone, so if my microphone is doing voice recognition stuff to advertise at me, then I should start seeing sports advertising on my phone, right?
Prior to running this experiment, I downloaded a few free games and apps, as I figured they would advertise at me, including 94%, Tiny Death Star, Accupedo (a pedometer with a terrible-sounding name), QuizUp, and Burger. I played / used them for a bit to see what ads would pop up. They seemed fairly random, most being for other games and apps from the Play Store.
After this, I left my phone about 4 feet from the radio overnight, with the volume up high enough that it could be comfortably heard. (EDIT - both the main Facebook app and Messenger were running throughout this experiment). I didn't plug my phone in to charge, as I wasn't sure if maybe it would think "I'm plugged in so I won't listen right now." My phone was fully charged when I started at around 6 PM (EST) let it go for about 8.5 hours, had around 65 percent charge when I woke up around 2:30 AM (I work third shift and sleep weird hours on my days off).
I've used the new applications, as well as others I had previously installed on the phone (including Chrome, Reddit is Fun, MyFitnessPal, Facebook, Messenger, Amazon, FlowFree, Pixel Dungeon, and others). I have not noticed any significant change in advertisement content, nor have I noticed any sports-related games or apps taking the place of the games and apps that were previously being pushed by the ads.
My phone is a T-mobile Motorola/Google Nexus 6. It is not rooted or unlocked, and I'm running the stock OS, updated to Lollipop 5.1 via the OTA update from T-mobile. I have the Facebook app installed, as well as Facebook's Messenger app. I was on my home WiFi, which is Comcast Xfinity. If I were to ever actually be a shill for any company or organization, it would be T-mobile, as their customer service is the best and they are awesome. But I digress...
I'm going to continue doing this for a few more days/nights, as maybe my phone hasn't heard enough about sports to make a difference. I'll also try it with my phone plugged in, as well as with WiFi turned off so I get an internet signal from the cell tower instead, just to cover my bases. If you can think of any other variables I should switch out, please let me know and I'll give it a shot.
If I notice any difference, I'll report back.
EDIT - I just downloaded Pandora and will see if that does anything, as someone here mentioned it and I believe it was mentioned in the other threads about this. I'm also going to try finding a Spanish radio or TV station on the internet to try after a few more days of the ESPN radio.
20 comments
7 Balthanos 2015-05-01
You would think the guys in the android developers forums would have found this behavior if it is out there.
3 a_shill 2015-05-01
I agree; however, I figured there was no harm in running the experiment myself anyway, as others on this sub said they would as well.
1 FriendlyKarmaWhore 2015-05-01
Even if it had, one person isn't indicative of anything
2 a_shill 2015-05-01
True. However, others said that they were also going to run the experiment, which would give us more information to analyze. Though nobody else seems to be reporting in so far.
(EDIT - The above statement is incorrect, as one other person did report similar findings elsewhere in this post prior to me writing this comment. My apologies for the oversight.)
I would also argue that it's not even a particularly scientific experiment at that, as there's not really any way to confirm the validity of any data that may be collected. For all you know, I could just be lying about the whole thing. I'm not, but you really only have my word to go on, I suppose. Just as else who reports on this could also be lying, and we can only use our best judgment to determine whether what they present is factual or not.
Assuming any of the other people who said they would participate actually present their findings.
6 anarchopotato 2015-05-01
lol
2 a_shill 2015-05-01
I know, right? What a terrible name.
3 metabolix 2015-05-01
Try making sure facebook messenger or google or siri or whatever app in question is running. Thanks for running the experiment. I personally never bought this, but you never know until it happens to you I guess.
1 a_shill 2015-05-01
Both Messenger and the main Facebook app were running. I'll update my OP to reflect this, as a few people have mentioned this.
2 DoctorDrMD 2015-05-01
I got a lot of e cig ads after I searched it up on google. This shit terrifies me.
3 Allenbluethrowaway 2015-05-01
you gave them that information. though still a bit weird, you shouldn't fear that... post-capitalism this will be a good thing, hopefully bringing you news and initiatives from within your local community as relevant to your interests etc. never fear progress.
the war is on what they take from you.
1 a_shill 2015-05-01
The difference is, Google specifically tells you it's going to do this. You're also willingly giving information about something you're interested in.
Facebook has never said anywhere "we may turn your microphone on, listen to you, and serve ads to you based on what we hear." But some people are assuming this is happening.
2 pbae 2015-05-01
This is very thorough. Nice job!
I'm too lazy to run an experiment like this but I'm curious about what the results are going to be.
1 pimpythrowaray 2015-05-01
Pandora on my phone changes languages when I speak in a foreign language, but not when it overhears other people. I spoke about playing poker in Chinese, and it advertised to me casinos in Macau, in Chinese language only ad.
3 Pinktella 2015-05-01
I'm a very white German first generation American with a Spanish last name.
Especially Pandora, but generally anything phone-wise that I give my full real name assumes I need ads in Spanish.
Aside from that, noticed no increase in the amount of them from this experiment. :/
0 a_shill 2015-05-01
What kind of phone do you have?
I don't have Pandora on my phone, as I have odd musical tastes and haven't liked what Pandora has picked for me in the past. But I guess I'll download it and check out what ads I get. And see if it's any better at figuring out what weird music I like.
-2 LetsHackReality 2015-05-01
That is very disturbing. It implies they have your voiceprint.
1 kingcubfan 2015-05-01
Thanks for doing this!
1 Irradiance 2015-05-01
Good work, very interesting.
0 HaltNWO 2015-05-01
The Facebook App (and messenger one, as well) have in their ToS that they an use your mic whenever. Make sure those apps are running (if only in the background) if you want this to come out with a positive result.
Or you could just read the ToS and not have to do this. Either or results in the same conclusion.
2 a_shill 2015-05-01
Both Facebook and Messenger were running on the phone throughout.
I've seen this ToS argument made a few times, but I can't find any relevant text to confirm it... Could you point out where in the Terms of Service it states that it can turn my microphone on without my consent and listen to me?
And honestly, I am doubtful that this will come out with a positive result; however, I am at least willing to put my preconceived notions about this to the test.
EDIT - I'd appreciate it if people would refrain from downvoting the poster above for voicing his thoughts on this matter (was at -1 when I made this edit). Censorship is not beneficial to reasonable discourse.