This is happening in more places then just Comcast. I've seen it all over my YouTube page. and, even worse, my fiancée's instagram gets hit with ads generated from data that is collected from me!

https://youtu.be/uL31v436-c8 It's happening EVERYWHERE. Some people look at it as extreme marketing but I look at it as stealing the privacy of every American.

Same happens whenever my husband browses Facebook on his pc and knows what I've searched for on Amazon (from my own pc) based on the adverts that come up.

I assume it's because both pc's are on the same wifi nextwork but still.

Spouse and I noticed this the other night. We were talking about how we never watched Madmen but were thinking about watching it sometime; randomly got an ad for the show on Facebook half an hour later.

This is very normal and google has been doing it for years. They give you 2 options, you get random ads on youtube and google partners website or you get targeted ads by allowing them to collect data on things that you like. You can easily disable this option in you account settings, but it won't change the fact that you will still see ads so the real question would be: do you like that see random ads or ads related to what you like?

I understand why they are collecting the data, but thank you for the explanation anyway. What is upsetting are are mediums used to collect said data.

Having a fake google account and using a vpn that doesn't keep logs and DNS leak is the best solution.

Im not so much looking for a solution, as they will obtain the data if they really want it. Im more here just to bitch that its a problem to begin with.

Yeah. I think it's safe to say that NUMEROUS companies are utilizing things like this; especially companies that offer multiple services, like home phone, internet, television, cellphone, etc. It's crazy how marketing is changing and becoming much more invasive- not good!

Does Comcast give you internet Television and Phone? If so they don’t need apps on your phone.

Not phone

Yes, phone. That's cellular. They also have VOIP landline, but that's off topic.

I know, I'm just saying I don't use them for any phone service.

That in concert with a cocaine user could be a wicked bad mix.

Interesting theory but I'm not sold on it completely without evidence. When you watch channels that appeal to you, there's a good chance you'll see commercials that appeal to you. Ad companies pay a lot of money to figure out which channels would hit their target audience.

The amount of effort that would have to be put into sending specific ads to each individual television set would be so ridiculous, it'd be nearly impossible outside of a streaming service that has your IP address.

Online streaming service like PS Vue? I could comprehend targeted ads. Cable? Highly doubtful.

Well, they appear on lots of different channels, I can tell when they're streaming because of the quality. How many channels would advertise whiskey, diapers, resorts (we were just planning a resort stay), quickbooks (I use quickbooks for my small business) and credit scores which I just had a long convo with my bro in law about. These air on network channels, kids channels, MTV, cnbc ect...

I don't know enough about how ads work on cable to say that you're wrong but from my very limited understanding, commercials are all aired via the networks, not the cable providers. The only exceptions are slots designated to local ads, which is regional rather than specific to each TV set.

That's what I thought too. I hope I'm wrong, but pretty sure I'm not, they're so specifically targeted, that it can't be coincidence. That's the same way I felt about FB Instagram ads. Then I tested my theory by setting my phone next to the tv while playing a Korean on demand show. I started getting ads on FB in Chinese and my Yahoo news stories were all from Asia.

Now I'm noticing it on TV. Really hope I'm wrong, because its so creepy, but also think about what Wikileaks revealed in Vault 7 that Samsung Tv's were spying. So not totally out of realm of possibility.

you're right that ads are largely served by the networks rather than by the cable provider. However there is a precedent in that Comcast overlays its own ads over webpages when you browse the internet using Xfinity wifi. So one possibility is that Comcast is just overlaying a targeted stream over a more generic broadcast at the specific times advertisements are being aired.

https://www.silverpush.co/

This is crazy. Is it essentially what OP was talking about or slightly different?

It is a series of ultrasonic beacons on TV, and your phone captures them, and it helps advertisers link ads to what it thinks you enjoy. This system was also used to de-anonymize people using Tor.

We know that our phone apps are listening to us and selling data, so this is not that surprising.

No, we don't know this. At least to the extent that they are actually collecting everything we say and are reporting it. Sure, I've seen some people claim that this is happening, but the evidence was shoddy, at best.

The reality is that they don't need to listen into your conversations. They can probably glean a lot from your watching habits what type of people are in your house. They are also probably buying information about your online habits as well. With all of this together, no one needs to listen to your conversations, it would almost a complete waste (if they are just trying to target advertisements towards you) and way too risky.

But it wouldn't surprise me at all if they customize the ads you see. Unlike the claim by the other guy, I believe this would be trivial, especially if you already have internet with them.

It's not people sitting and listening to conversations. The mics recognize keywords and relay those keywords to advertisers. It's not like some dude is sitting listening to everything we say.

Test it. Set your phone next to a tv playing a foreign language for an hour. Within 36 hours you will notice some web ads from things related to that country. Go ahead, do it. Report back. For me I found a Korean tv show on demand. Within a day I had ads in Chinese and Yahoo's news stories were all Asian related.

The mics recognize keywords and relay those keywords to advertisers.

This is not true. First of all, your phone doesn't have the on-board processing power to do that, so all the data would have to be sent to the Internet to be processed. Secondly, that would obliterate your battery.

Ad targeting is very sophisticated these days, but it's not spooky. It's just clever. Like for instance, if you've set your phone to share location data with apps, if somebody physically close to you does a search for beef jerky, then you'll be more likely to see beef jerky ads, because the assumption is that you might also be interested in beef jerky. This is how stuff like the "things my wife likes show up on my phone!" is accomplished.

Facebook's targeting is even more sophisticated. Facebook knows who you're "friends" with (because you tell it) and it often knows when you're in the same place (because you get tagged in your friend's posts or pictures), so they can correlate your searches with your friends' and vice versa.

It's really not scary. It's just clever.

The phone doesn’t? Siri can, most of the time, recognize the words I’m saying and use sentences to complete tasks for me. The idea that the phone itself might pick up and react to words used around it doesn’t seem a far stretch, but I don’t have the technical education required to let me know if my phone can do that. Unless I’m mistaken, devices like Alexa have a “wake-word” that basically gets their attention, so again it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch.

The only thing your phone recognizes by passively listening is the phrase "Hey Siri," which it's been trained to recognize and which prompts it to start actively listening. It sends a hash of its recording off to Apple's servers which parse what you say very quickly using massive computational power.

This is a conspiracy forum, so it shouldn’t be a stretch that we don’t trust that as being true. I don’t trust Apple to not be complicit in spying on me. Can the listening be turned on remotely? Can Apple take periodic environment samples, or randomly assign you a listening priority based on your browsing and typing habits? Again, I don’t have the technical education to examine the hardware and software to discover the truth for myself.

you can give apps permission to have microphone access.

I don’t have the technical education

Yes.

How would you explain me setting my phone down next to forward language tv show and then getting ads in that language on FB and Yahoo?

By gently observing that that didn't actually happen.

So you tried it? Give it a little time, took about 12 hours before ads started showing up. Which language did you use?

I'm saying that what you said did not actually happen. You did not expose your phone to a foreign language and then start getting ads in that language. You're omitting key parts of the story.

I promise you I'm 100% am telling the truth and not omitting any information. Try it yourself, its that easy. I know you think I'm lying, that's fine, I don't trust random people on the comment boards either, but I'm not lying. Try it yourself.

You've repeatedly omitted the information about how you went and found a foreign-language program on demand. You did not just expose your phone to a foreign language.

Lol! There is a section On Demand on Comcast that is for foreign language programs! That is not a conspiracy.

There was a Reply All podcast recently that tried to get to the bottom of this. They basically came to the same conclusion about the ads being served to us falling in the clever but (probably) not scary category. We definitely all get data-minded and served ads based on who we spend time in proximity with, where we go, what we search for, what they search for, etc. I keep meaning to test the eavesdropping theory by randomly talking about some bullshit that I don't actually care about and am unlikely to be otherwise served comment for. Like talking about Gobots or Paraguay a few times to see if I start getting targeted by the Paraguayan tourism board. I'm assuming I won't be.

It's not people sitting and listening to conversations.

FFS, I used the same fucking terminology you used in the title of your post. There was absolutely nothing in my post that should have led you to assume I meant anything different. Of course a person isn't sitting there listening to it.

For me I found a Korean tv show on demand.

(emphasis, obviously mine) Do you not see the how else they could have gotten the idea that you were watching a Korean TV show far more easily and far less intrusively than constantly recording and processing what is coming into your mic? I'm actually flabbergasted that I have to explain this.

Ok, please explain how FB knew how I had a Korean TV show on the television. I'm sorry, you have to explain to an idiot.

Comcast could collect data on which of their users/networks watch foreign language channels and sell that info to FB to serve ads in those languages. All our app and service providers are constantly collecting our data and monetizing it however they can.

Yeah that's possible, but along with the other evidence taken directly from things I've said convinces me it's from audio. I can't prove it, but for me personally the evidence is overwhelming.

Once you start paying attention to the ads you're getting and thinking about it, you'll start to notice.

I see all kinds of coincidences in the ads I see, but the creepiest ones I can generally find a digital link to explain. As in, my buddy and I were talking about Product X at a bar the other day and then I saw ads for it. But invariably he had googled the product or read about it or something. FB can easily collect data from both of us, see that he was likely interested in Product X, we're acquaintances and hung out recently, so maybe I'd be interested in it too. It's convoluted in the description, admittedly, but it seems like that would be easy enough to implement for programmes familiar with that stuff. To be, that seems like a simpler solution than an app, or apps, constantly listening and transmitting data (although I definitely wouldn't say that's impossible or not happening).

Ok, please explain how FB knew how I had a Korean TV show on the television.

You just asked how something that is extremely easy to do could possibly be done. This should make you question how much you actually understand about any of this and question how much your interpretation of any of it is valid.

Instead, you dismiss this and simply claim that you have a lot of other evidence other than what you put forth (which was explained another way question). This is like the exact opposite of critical thinking.

Once you start paying attention to the ads you're getting and thinking about it, you'll start to notice.

This is probably the result of confirmation bias. Think of the hundreds or thousands of things you say a day. The fact that a handful of them can be linked to you in other ways is not surprising in the least. If you actually critically think about this, you'll see that there are many things you talk about that aren't advertised to you.

You're right, there are other possibilities that I hadn't thought of, but they don't make as much sense to me. You can tell me it's confirmation bias, I probably wouldve thought that too, but I know from my personal experiences its not. If you think its me being ignorant that is ok. This is on conspiracy sub. You also seem pretty hostile, what's with that?

You're right, there are other possibilities that I hadn't thought of, but they don't make as much sense to me.

Have you considered that they don't make sense because you really don't have a firm understanding of what is going on? When we don't understand something, we don't just cram something into the box that we do understand, we attempt to understand what is actually going on.

You can tell me it's confirmation bias, I probably wouldve thought that too, but I know from my personal experiences its not.

That doesn't make sense. So are you saying every single thing you talk around your phone is advertised to you?

No, I'm not saying that, I'm saying the evidence I've personally witnessed, from things I've personally said and not searched for lead me to believe this is happening. I can't prove that to you, but Im convinced beyond reasonable doubt this is happening. I'm not saying it's even illegal, I've given those apps permission to do that very thing.

You dont know me, so you assume I'm just ignorant and that it's confirmation bias, that's fine, that's why it's under conspiracy because I can't prove it. However a lot of other people on this thread have noticed

I can't prove that to you, but Im convinced beyond reasonable doubt this is happening.

The only example you have given was that you put your phone next to the TV - for something you chose on demand - and that you started getting ads related to that. This is easily explained another, easier, and more simple way. A way you did not understand existed. How can you be so sure that the rest of your "proof" doesn't fall under an equally limited understanding?

You dont know me, so you assume I'm just ignorant

No, I'm not assuming that at all. You asked a question that clearly indicated your ignorance of something very simple and common. Instead of admitting that maybe you don't understand that there are other possible explanations for the other "evidence" you have, you are simply vaguely referring to all the evidence you have, without putting it out there for critical analysis. I'm suggesting that maybe you should be a bit more critical of your evidence, because you weren't with the only piece you've put forth.

You are clearly offended by this notion, but why the hostility?

I'm not offended by the notion, I'm offended when people claim that they know for sure something has happened when they have no good evidence to support that claim. Remember, the only evidence you put forth is easily explained another way. Instead of admitting that you don't really know, you've simply claimed that you do, without providing any further. That's what offends me.

From another comment of mine on this thread:

I'll give you examples. These examples don't prove anything but are pretty damning in my personal opinion:

1. During the Super Bowl I had guests over. One of my sister in law had just gotten back from Ireland, she went to Jameson distillery there and was talking about how you're supposed to always mix a little water in with it for the proper flavor. Well the next morning I had a suggested article on FB that said "should you mix water with whiskey?" Neither myself or sister in law had looked it up online that night, I asked her. Also, I never search, like or comment on whiskey related things on the web. This is when I really started to pay attention and notice it was happening all the time.

2. I was at a gas station with a co worker. I always buy Arizona Green Tea cans. They didn't have any, so I said out loud, "Damn they're out of Arizona Green Tea, I'll try the Pure Leaf (think thats the name of it) Green tea instead. Two hours later I had an ad for Pure Leaf Green Tea on Instagram. I have never searched for, liked or commented on Green Tea online.

3. One time a co-worker and I were talking about chicken wings because he had some for lunch. I told him how much I love Teriyaki flavored wings and that was the only kind I ordered when I got them. An hour later I had an ad for Teriyaki sauce on my Instagram.

This happens ALL OF THE TIME. I tell people about it, and then they start to notice it too. You can think all of those are coincidences, but I don't think they are, and I don't think its crazy to think they're not, especially when we give our apps permission to do just what I'm talking about.

1. "One of my sister in law had just gotten back from Ireland, she went to Jameson distillery there and was talking about how you're supposed to always mix a little water in with it for the proper flavor." They likely knew she was there, probably because she tagged herself there in some picture, or "checked in" that she was at the distillery. Maybe they even could tell by where she logged in. There are many, many ways for them to figure out that she was there. The figure out that she is in the same place as you, maybe because someone tags you in a picture together, or you both log on from the same IP address. Maybe you are a young male, at least semi-affluent, and you fit the profile of a person that might drink whiskey. Clearly, this is at least somewhat accurate because you were talking about whiskey to begin with. All of a sudden, you start to get things about whiskey because they believe you may be the target audience primed at that moment for whiskey related stuff. I'm not sure what else you talked about the distillery, but I assume it was much more than just putting water into the whiskey. So the fact that it was about this one aspect of your conversation isn't super-coincidental, if it had been part of any part of your discussion about whiskey that night it would have seemed equally coincidental. Besides, what other numerous things did you talk to her about that you weren't targeted for? Or with other people that night?
2. I feel this is harder to explain, but who knows what else was going on that you are forgetting the mention. And, again, what else did you talk about at that gas station that wasn't advertised to you?
3. For whatever reason, they know you drink Arizona, and that makes you a prime target for Pure Leaf advertisements. The timing might be coincidental, but the advertisement seems appropriate.

You can think all of those are coincidences,

I'm not saying they are coincidences (other than timing). What I am saying is that they don't need to be listening to your microphone to glean this information about you. If you are willingly allowing them to track you, especially by having the app on your phone, then they can figure all kinds of things about.

As far as the whiskey goes, it is still astronomically unlikely that they would target something so specific, even if they had data placed on her being in the Jameson distillery AND me being a whiskey drinker. If they knew that, it would still be a huge stretch in my opinion that they would sponsor an ad for an online men's magazine about mixing water with whiskey after I had just talked about it literally for the 1st time the night before. This would not help them sell whiskey, it would be selling me a visit to this men's website/magazine. So it wouldn't make sense for the water mixing thing to be a targeted ad to sell whiskey, and it would be an astronomical coincidence if they used the mixing to target me and I just so happened to have talked about it the night before.

I never search for iced tea online or comment on it. I have no pictures of me online with me having Arizona green tea so why would they know I drink it?

Also, this happens all the time. The incidents I describes were the first ones I noticed. My wife and I laugh about them now when we see them. She started noticing too.

The timing IS very important on these things. When these ads pop up within hours of saying the things on numerous occasion you can't say the timing is coincidence everytime, in my opinion of course.

I'm just basing the possibility based on what you told me in the brief story, which seems like quite a lot. I am sure there is much more.

However, what is actually "astronomically unlikely" is that, if they are capturing all of this data, and sending it back (because they would have to be sending back a ton of data if they were sending back that you were talking about something specific as putting water in whiskey), and no one has been able to sniff the packets nor show that the apps are still running while the phone is off and using the microphone.

I never said my phone was off.

It's useless debating tech-illiterate, ignorant people. For them anything you say will be dismissed, and their phones will upload everything everyone says to the cloud. It's literally useless to convince him, and it's sad - if they'd know how the technology works, their threat assessment could focus on real tech problems.

Thank you.. when I read that I was thinking the exact same thing.

no, we do know this. it has been confirmed some apps are partnered with other voice/sound recognition app providers and link to their servers in order to upload limited amounts of background data -- usually the sounds recorded while that app is open.

they listen for, say, product names, known songs, etc. and target you for ads with those things.

having internet alone is more difficult to manage this with because of VPN -- however, you still get targeted ads on windows because Microsoft itself is a sell out (Id have rather paid for yearly new OSs and risked security holes personally than have SAS, I am against software as a service though I cannot let it be known I am professionally or will never work)

but anyways windows itself has an 'advertiser code' built into the OS and will communicate with advertisers regardless of your IP, which is why a VPN no longer stops targeted ads on windows -- aside from issues like facebook and google accounts.

anyway, this is 100% true.

since it was established as precedent to be legal to profit off this data, everyone either does it or goes out of business. If I made a commercial competitor to Microsoft that didn't lock people down like Apple, and refused to advertise, I would have to charge hundreds more, sell far less copies, and even with 2x the cost initially, the profitability would tank.

the only solution is to add hard privacy laws which kneecap corporate products with threat of force by the government, and put everyone on an even field forcing the old model to stay alive regardless of how industry feels about it.

if profits were mandated to be lower by LAW, and these methods of accruing extra money made ILLEGAL, everyone would have an even playing field without them, enabling people who want a different future to create it.

You are correct that some minor apps have been caught nefariously use the microphone while the app is active. But the OP is clearly talking about major companies (like comcast and facebook, just look at their posts in this thread) collecting data even when the phone's screen is turned off.

Most of the rest of the post we agree on, the big guys track you other ways which are far more effective, far cheaper, far less intrusive and far less open to bad PR.

yes, as stated with Microsoft they use the advertiser code, which is far less objectionable. other companies like facebook and google use cross-site networks that validate the account.

I did glaze over this, but it was a long rant.

No I didn't say Comcast was doing it themselves, I'm saying (it is my theory, hence post in conspiracy) they're buying info from those apps to advertise streaming commercials.

This all started a couple months ago with one app in particular, this is not happening on the scale people fear, 99% of the anecdotal evidence for this has been debunked.

Your phone battery does not and can not support your phone streaming audio to a server without it being immediately noticeable both in battery draw and network data usage.

These phones are picked apart every release by people alot smarter than us and it would be absolutly known as a fact if any of this was happening and it's not and has sent been.

Your phone is not listening to you...

Your Web surfing habits produce more than enough analytic data for them to target adds at you.

I know some of it is not from web surfing habits, but you don't know me, so you're entitled to think I'm just ignorant. I'll give you examples. These examples don't prove anything but are pretty damning in my personal opinion:

1. During the Super Bowl I had guests over. One of my sister in law had just gotten back from Ireland, she went to Jameson distillery there and was talking about how you're supposed to always mix a little water in with it for the proper flavor. Well the next morning I had a suggested article on FB that said "should you mix water with whiskey?" Neither myself or sister in law had looked it up online that night, I asked her. Also, I never search, like or comment on whiskey related things on the web. This is when I really started to pay attention and notice it was happening all the time.

2. I was at a gas station with a co worker. I always buy Arizona Green Tea cans. They didn't have any, so I said out loud, "Damn they're out of Arizona Green Tea, I'll try the Pure Leaf (think thats the name of it) Green tea instead. Two hours later I had an ad for Pure Leaf Green Tea on Instagram. I have never searched for, liked or commented on Green Tea online.

3. One time a co-worker and I were talking about chicken wings because he had some for lunch. I told him how much I love Teriyaki flavored wings and that was the only kind I ordered when I got them. An hour later I had an ad for Teriyaki sauce on my Instagram.

This happens ALL OF THE TIME. I tell people about it, and then they start to notice it too. You can think all of those are coincidences, but I don't think they are, and I don't think its crazy to think they're not, especially when we give our apps permission to do just what I'm talking about.

It's all anecdotal.

I know that, Sherlock, I didn't say it was proof, thats why this was posted on conspiracy, but for me personally it's beyond a reasonable doubt.

to clarify on 'picking winners and losers' I meant, picking who gets access to learn certain careers or skills and restricting hobbyists, as well as picking and choosing who is willing to comply with the status quo instead of challenging it.

those who do not select to go along with it will essentially be dooming their business.

Companies collecting data? What a surprise!

I mean, is this news to you? Because everyone else has known for about a decade now.

No, but streaming tv commercials based on data collected by my phone microphone is. Look at this thread, most don't believe it.

Most don't believe anything on this sub.

That usually includes me. I just enjoy seeing you all with your tinfoil hats screaming about the next new world order conspiracy.

But still, this isn't news. At all. If ads on the internet became a thing, then so would this.

I doubt the hidden microphone in phones part though.

OK Test it. Set your phone next to a tv playing a foreign language for an hour. Within 36 hours you will notice some web, FB, and instagram ads from things related to that country. Go ahead, do it. Report back. For me I found a Korean tv show on demand. Within a day I had ads in Chinese and Yahoo's news stories were all Asian related.

If I told you what Snowden revealed 10 years ago you would say I'm crazy too. I don't believe most conspiracy theories. I might be wrong about streaming commercials, but confident of phone Mic listening. That is common knowledge now. Try it and get back to me.

Too bad, i rarely watch tv and i'm not bothering to turn it on right now. Also not a customer at Comcast.

Also not from the US.

I'll just tell you right now that, maybe, just maybe, they didn't listen through your phone and instead just directly looked into what you turned on on your tv. Just a food for thought that it's easier, less expensive, doesn't require working with other companies, is a much more direct and reliable way and sounds more reasonable. I know, it sounds crazy, but it just might be true.

I already knew they did that stuff but I've seen convincing evidence that much of it is purely through audio.

Just your "I Agree" click got you there - kinda like if you don't I'll take my ball and go home

Oh yeah, I'm not denying I've agreed for these apps to collect data.

If you have an iPhone you can set which apps have access to your phone’s microphone. The apps need to ask permission to use it, and you have to give it to them. So, be careful which apps you allow to use your mic.

I’m sure it’s similar with Android phones. Also, be careful which brand smart tv you purchase, Samsung TVs are always listening. Xbox is always listening, etc. Be mindful of everything you buy that is connected to the internet.

Android "usually" asks for permission, although their permission system is a bit more deceitful than iOS.

If an app asks for permission to take a photo/video or access your photo gallery that includes permission to listen to your microphone .

Meh, if you know what you're doing Android is much better. If you're on Samsung get Adhell2 and block permissions. If you're on anything else flash Lineage with microg. Unless you're with Verizon in which case you're fucked.

Except for the fact that both your manufacturer and vendor are free to do whatever the hell they want with the version of AndroidOS that your phone ships with. Infact most american carriers will hook the bootloader of the phone to such an extent that you cannot remove all traces of the carrier without rooting the phone ( and the second you do that you void your warrenty. )

Manufacturer installed additions to android are even worse, since some of them cannot be removed even with root access to your phone.

without rooting the phone ( and the second you do that you void your warrenty. )

Fuck the warranty, rooting and flashing is the only way to get any semblance of privacy on phones. I made the mistake of buying a Samsung which you can't do that with, don't do what I did. Buy stuff that are compatible with Lineage/microg.

On android settings>apps>app permissions you can block any app from using location, camera, microphone, storage, or any of the others.

It's really not that difficult

There are 2 issues here

• background microphone usage getting snuck in with other permissions, If I want to take a picture of my wang then that shouldn't bundle the microphone permission with it ( I'll point out that microphone is also a seperate permission, but even if you turn off microphone the application can still access it because camera is enabled, same goes for location, you can poll the location directly from the camera or grab the location where pictures were taken even if the location permission is disabled for an app )

• education, people don't realise that apps are doing this and therefore granting broad permissions anyway, if an app asks for "all permissions" and refuses to run without them being granted then plenty of users will just grant them if the app gives them the ability to do something that they want

Is this why i cant uninstall the Peel Universal Remote on android

I must need a billion medications because medications and class action lawsuits for medications seems to make up 80% of the commercials I see.

Or could be watching Matlock

Murder She Wrote.

Cell Phone should be in Faraday Pouch when not using it or when you want privacy.

Don't watch TV. Comcast representative called me few days ago offering me GREAT deals on Cable and Internet. I told the rep I don't watch TV. I have a TV that I use as a monitor that's it. She hanged up. My mom watch infomercials a lot at night. Every fucking time I open YouTube on our Roku TV in the living room we get ads about those damn as seen on tv crap. That moment I knew something was up and I knew my mom watches these crappy infomercials shows and bug me about these crappy products. If you have a smart tv they watching you too.

I started watching a new show on Netflix and I got recommended related videos on YouTube. The accounts for both platforms are totally separate and I never searched for anything about the new show

Similar things happen to me with Facebook .

My wife will be browsing for things on Amazon or googling something and I will get ads for it in Facebook, fun part is that we both use completely seperate devices and never use each other's devices to log into each others accounts .

If effect Facebook knows that me and my wife are married, Amazon and Google share browsing data with Facebook , and they can put 2+2 together.

Every major cable company has targeted ads. They don't need to listen to your phone to do it. I have a friend who worked for "Visible World". They handle ad selection for the cable companies, using data the cable company buys from your credit card company about what kind of things you buy, where you've gone on vacation, etc. There are a number of channels dedicated to just showing targeted ads, and the cable box gets instructed to switch to the appropriate one of those channels during the commercial time slot.

I think you're on the right track but here's what's really going on. Comcast plays an ad on television with an embedded Super Sonic tone that triggers the recording of your reaction to the advertisement. Data is then collected and sold to various companies

When you look at the permissions for apps on an iPhone, if "microphone" is not activated, can they still listen in?

Background app refresh allows limited background activity to update the app. Is there some sort of secret back door microphone permission I am missing?

Is that why I always get the cringe "WhAtS a ComPuTEr?" commercial because the topic of how fucking stupid it is comes up with people I game with.

Received an email from “Facebook Ads Team” while I was reading this... might be a coincidence but it sure seemed odd. My phone vibrated with almost comedic timing

I'm not sure who is to blame, but I'm 99% sure Channel 4 does this too. I've had targeted ads on when I'm watching 4oD on my computer (which I have no mic for, but my google account is signed in). I've had ads that literally scream my real life name, that are targeted for things I've talked about recently but not shopped for and also even had one about a shower head heater thing after complaining about hot water not walking ON THE PHONE (had these ads pop up on reddit and youtube)

I hate that we all consented to this small print privacy invading bullshit.

Yes, exactly. People tell me that they're just getting data from my web browsing and demographics, but I know its from specific things I've said that I haven't searched for.

I first realized this when during the Super Bowl I had guests over. One of my sister in law had just gotten back from Ireland, she went to Jameson distillery there and was talking about how you're supposed to always mix a little water in with it for the proper flavor.

Well the next morning I had a suggested article on FB that said "should you mix water with whiskey?" Neither myself or sister in law had looked it up online that night, I asked her. No joke!!! Then I started to pay attention to ads and realizing this happened all of the time for specific things I said.

I've been noticing this happening for a looooooong time, but now the only sites I use that bombard me with ads are only reddit and youtube I've notice it even more because I used to just think it was facebook app listening and targeting but it has to be Google.

I think it's apps from our phone that collects data, then sells it to advertisers who then advertise on FB, YouTube etc... using the data that the apps collected. I can't prove it, but shit, we give the apps permission to do that.

but on a number of occasions I've gone to google something totally random I'm talking about with someone sat next to me I'll start typing it and it'll guess exactly what I was saying outloud

Every big company does something like that, the google search helper knows you IP address and know what have you searched from that IP address, so it’s basically a convenience feature.

Once, I was in a dorm and I got anal beads and vibrator suggestions, but I’m a 24/M and only searched for new case for my phone.

edit: I dunno if anyone else has ever noticed this : but on a number of occasions I've gone to google something totally random I'm talking about with someone sat next to me I'll start typing it and it'll guess exactly what I was saying outloud, even if it's completely random/irrelevant to past searches

Sorry, I call bullshit on this, unless you have a malware.

However, if you can somehow prove this, please prove. I like conspiracy theories, but it seems like too far fetched.

Google searching on my computer can't prove something like that exactly lol. For example me and my dad a couple days ago talking about where we could buy a new family name tartan blanket. (Trust me ive never tried to buy one of these lmao) I searched : first few letters of family name first thing that came up was tartan, second was tartan blanket, third was crest . Not any profile pages, not the names of the people with same name, no cooperations. Completely random clan blanket was first to pop up on Google search bar. Far fetched yes I totally agree, but it's happened to me on numerous occasions and apparently my friend gets it on her mac all the time. Dunno how I can prove this though..

No mic on my computer. I use Samsung s8 but only apps I have is reddit, Insta, YouTube and Netflix. I assume all of which can use my mic since I'm pretty sure they all ask permission when you download them. The stupid fucking Bixby piece of shit thing is probably listening even though i haven't set it up

Although I still think that it's far-fetched, I will definitely try what you mentioned today.

If it will be the same as your experience, I will open a topic for that too.

This is why I use Ghostery and AdBlocker at all times. Also stop giving every app your location.

Shut it down.

where you can pay your xfinity bill online right under that is a box to opt out of targeted advertising.

Oh, nice. I'll have to check that out.

empirical data as evidence, please.

Can't prove it empirically, that's why it's on conspiracy.

Ain't that the truth about this subreddit lol

Why on Earth would you pay Comcast for Cable TV

this is why i don't have Comcast and I don't have the facebook app installed on my phone. i haven't logged into facebook in months. i should probably just delete my account at this point.

Yeah, I literally have never once talked about Jet's pizza. My wife's mother and sister come to visit, picked up a Jet's pizza on the way. I was on my phone paying some bills, didn't mention the pizza, but the phone would have "seen" the pizza boxes all over the table.

Ten minutes later, my social media is covered in ads for Jet's pizza.

Phone shut off for the night. Ugh.

The Xfinty (Comcast) remote control has a mic in it for voice commands.

Never thought about that.

Hello every company is doing this. There is a third party company that collects all the data from mics and sells it

I believe it. My boyfriend and I were commenting on some shopkins backpacks at the store and when we got home YouTube showed us an ad for them. There's no other way they would have made a connection. I didn't want to believe our phones were listening in at first... so creepy.