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Is there ANY privacy with a Google device present?

Jet_ski
Go to solution Solved by Commodus,
9 minutes ago, Jet_ski said:

Has anyone with a Google Home, Pixel phone, or Chromecast noticed they are receiving targeted marketing mail based on conversations they have had near their devices?

 

This is happened to us for the third time in the last 12 months. And our Google privacy setting is on “max privacy” if that actually means anything. But I suspect Google to be the culprit, my partner like their devices and all of the marketing mails arrive with her name on them. I checked and every app on her phone seems to have ok privacy policy, and most of them don’t have permission to access the microphone or cameras.

 

This is just too creepy, it’s one thing to see relevant ads online, it’s an entirely different story to have random companies get your name, address, and whatever else Google sold them.

Some people will swear that their smart devices are targeting ads based on conversations, but there's no real evidence to indicate they're doing this.

 

Chromecasts don't have always-ready microphones, for starters. And the mics aren't actively recording on your Home or Pixel -- they're just waiting for a wake word before they do anything. Besides, the computational demands on Google's part for always-on ad targeting would be ridiculous. It'd need enough computational power to actively monitor hundreds of millions of Assistant devices around the clock.

 

More often than not, it's most likely that you've done something else that sparked the targeted advertising, or even that circumstances happened to align. That it only happened three times in a year sounds like evidence Google isn't listening in — you'd think Google would want do to that a lot more often if it had the power to eavesdrop.

 

Has anyone with a Google Home, Pixel phone, or Chromecast noticed they are receiving targeted marketing mail based on conversations they have had near their devices?

 

This is happened to us for the third time in the last 12 months. And our Google privacy setting is on “max privacy” if that actually means anything. But I suspect Google to be the culprit, my partner like their devices and all of the marketing mails arrive with her name on them. I checked and every app on her phone seems to have ok privacy policy, and most of them don’t have permission to access the microphone or cameras.

 

This is just too creepy, it’s one thing to see relevant ads online, it’s an entirely different story to have random companies get your name, address, and whatever else Google sold them.

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7 minutes ago, Jet_ski said:

Has anyone with a Google Home, Pixel phone, or Chromecast noticed they are receiving targeted marketing mail based on conversations they have had near their devices?

Haven't noticed that myself but I am sure some folks will chime in saying it is happening…spoiler alert, it is not.

 

-kp

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Seems a little tinfoil hat like, but no, I haven't.

Welcome to the new world. If you don't like it, get a flip phone. Nokia makes some nice ones.

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15 minutes ago, kpluck said:

Haven't noticed that myself but I am sure some folks will chime in saying it is happening…spoiler alert, it is not.

 

-kp

Several months ago we were invited to a ski trip in Colorado in a call on a Pixel 3. And within a week we received a letter from Amex about paying for a trip to Colorado using borrowed miles!

 

And today we received a letter about eye exams after having several conversations over the last few weeks about needing to visit an optometrist.

 0ADE24A2-99B1-4CF0-A15A-2572275AB5FF.thumb.jpeg.8d782d784d83e252c611270c6467f310.jpeg
 

They are just seriously too targeted and too timely. And we don’t get any junk mail, only a handful of marketing offers from places we’ve shopped from or used trial offers.

 

I’m not picking a few letters out of many that happen to coincide with my conversations.

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6 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Seems a little tinfoil hat like, but no, I haven't.

Welcome to the new world. If you don't like it, get a flip phone. Nokia makes some nice ones.

I know how it sounds and I hate it. But then I see articles like this and become uncomfortable with having those devices.

 

Facebook Tinkers With Users’ Emotions in News Feed Experiment, Stirring Outcry

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/technology/facebook-tinkers-with-users-emotions-in-news-feed-experiment-stirring-outcry.html

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Just now, Jet_ski said:

I know how it sounds and I hate it. But then I see articles like this and become uncomfortable with having those devices.

 

Facebook Tinkers With Users’ Emotions in News Feed Experiment, Stirring Outcry

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/technology/facebook-tinkers-with-users-emotions-in-news-feed-experiment-stirring-outcry.html

Haha, I mean, if you're going to use Facebook of all things...

They're a very well known evil.

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I have a Google Home in my bedroom, a Google Nest mini in a bathroom, a Lenovo Smart Clock with Google Assistant in my office as well as another Google Home in my kitchen. I have had these devices for years now with no issues. I also have Alexa devices in my home (Echo Dots, Echo Show 5) and haven't had any issues with them either. Granted, I already get tons of junk mail, but it's never anything relevant to anything I've discussed with other people in my home or while on phone calls in my home. 

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9 minutes ago, Jet_ski said:

Has anyone with a Google Home, Pixel phone, or Chromecast noticed they are receiving targeted marketing mail based on conversations they have had near their devices?

 

This is happened to us for the third time in the last 12 months. And our Google privacy setting is on “max privacy” if that actually means anything. But I suspect Google to be the culprit, my partner like their devices and all of the marketing mails arrive with her name on them. I checked and every app on her phone seems to have ok privacy policy, and most of them don’t have permission to access the microphone or cameras.

 

This is just too creepy, it’s one thing to see relevant ads online, it’s an entirely different story to have random companies get your name, address, and whatever else Google sold them.

Some people will swear that their smart devices are targeting ads based on conversations, but there's no real evidence to indicate they're doing this.

 

Chromecasts don't have always-ready microphones, for starters. And the mics aren't actively recording on your Home or Pixel -- they're just waiting for a wake word before they do anything. Besides, the computational demands on Google's part for always-on ad targeting would be ridiculous. It'd need enough computational power to actively monitor hundreds of millions of Assistant devices around the clock.

 

More often than not, it's most likely that you've done something else that sparked the targeted advertising, or even that circumstances happened to align. That it only happened three times in a year sounds like evidence Google isn't listening in — you'd think Google would want do to that a lot more often if it had the power to eavesdrop.

 

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26 minutes ago, Commodus said:

... the computational demands on Google's part for always-on ad targeting would be ridiculous. It'd need enough computational power to actively monitor hundreds of millions of Assistant devices around the clock.

 

More often than not, it's most likely that you've done something else that sparked the targeted advertising, or even that circumstances happened to align. That it only happened three times in a year sounds like evidence Google isn't listening in — you'd think Google would want do to that a lot more often if it had the power to eavesdrop.

Those are very solid points.

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