Guys, I am a bit concerned. I was working yesterday on an 8 year old system. I was dealing with component video and an Apple Tv with HDMI and no audio.

Today on my Facebook feed I see an Amazon ad for a component video product. I took no pictures of this system.

Is my phone's microphone or camera being tapped for commercial advertising opportunities?

Yes. I'm dead serious about this question and it's implications on privacy.

There is no one that can give you a 100% accurate answer on that.
The truth is big corporations have always done secretive and shady things. And no one is going to stop them from doing what they want. Are all the IoT devices spying on us? Probably not. But it is not inconceivable that there is some secret data being collected and used, in ways the general public does not know about. Only tin-foil hats will speculate on.

Component video was probably in one of your web searches. Amazon pays to target you with ads based on recent searches. I think they call it re-targeting or re-marketing.

Facebook scares the crap out of me. More than once, I've logged in and found friend recommendations that are one of our clients. I use an old email address that none of my clients have, I don't have any personal contact info like phone or address on my Facebook page. I have never installed the Facebook app on my phone. I can't think of any reason that they make a connection between me and any client.

I don't have Facebook at all, so this is all speculation.

Are you connected to your company's Facebook page some how? If so, then perhaps the clients are connected to that and/or looked it over while they were signed into their Facebook.

KOT

Nope. The company doesn't even have a Facebook page. It's really kind of freaky

I would expect your phone's GPS to know that you were in someone else's home, and Facebook would know who lives there. Wouldn't the house wifi be able to recognize your MAC address, and use that bit of info?

Facebook (and most every other company that can) tracks everyone they can, not just people with accounts.

If there is money to be made from your data, someone will find a way. Nothing freaky about it. It's capitalism.

So I recently have had two cases of this exact same thing happening to me. Im normally very skeptical of things like this and am not normally the tin foil hat conspiracy type. With that being said...

- First was a friend told me how he picked up a new whiskey that he was a big fan of, Basil Hayden. Not much of a drinker, never whiskey but sure enough the following day I start seeing targeted advertising for that exact brand (via instagram).

- I go on a ski trip with a friend. Share the story. Later in the trip we go to grab lunch at a deli. He casually in passing mentions how it would be great to buy a professional deli slicer. Sure enough he starts getting targeted advertising later on in the week for deli slicers (via facebook).

Two completely RANDOM things that were never searched in any way shape or form and/or had any similar purchases. I mean a freaking deli slicer man... who the hell has ever purchased a deli slicer??

IMO its probably google behind it and not facebook. After all they are the ones who are behind most of the targeted advertising and information collection.

Random question... iphone or android? Do you have the google hangouts app installed on your phone?

edit...

I have ZERO doubt that my phone is actively listening for buzzwords that then heard triggers off some other event. I highly doubt they are actively recording and/or transferring the data anywhere.

Relevant links, for light reading

[Link: webpronews.com]

[Link: theverge.com]

[Link: bbc.com]

[Link: cnet.com]

[Link: yro.slashdot.org]

[Link: alterslash.org]

Uncle, and everyone else KNOWS who and where you are....




Tin foil won't help you now. It's too late

You all agreed to the terms and conditions. This is what was in the fine print you did not bother to read. I see it like this. The only people who are really going to get uber paranoid and bent out of shape about "big brother", google or facebook or amazon, etc. tracking where you are, what you search for, what you might say, who you are with, what you buy and where, etc., are those who are doing things that could potentially get them into trouble. I could not care less who listens to my phone conversations, knows where I shop, what I search for on the internet, etc. My life is relatively boring in those regards. I agreed to all the crap anyhow so I have no recourse.

If you do not want to be part of this, get rid of your cell phone, or find some way to use burner phones without giving away any personal info, drop your ISP, and only use mobile data on your prepaid burner phone, public wifi or internet access to do email, online banking, facebook if you must. Use fake details when signing up for things....do not use your real address, phone numbers, use a "burner" email address for things that seem sketchy. IMHO, it is nearly going to be impossible to live completely "off the grid" these days. Hell, even unemployment, welfare, foodstamps, etc. are forced to use the internet to do their thing. Why do you think that is? It is so the data can be collected. Information is power.

Yes. Google knows where you are, who you are with at any given time. If you and your buddy are at a deli, Google can easily push ads about deli slicers your way without listening to your conversation. But chances are, something somewhere is likely listening. Again, it is all spelled out in the terms and conditions you agreed to. :) Every watch the South Park episode regarding that? Hilarious.

Every form of digital communication is being monitored even when not being used

If you're not paying for it, you are the product being sold.

There is always a trail back to your own activity. You search for something on your phone or ipad and then you get home and see a related ad while on your laptop and think "wtf...they are tracking me". Uh...yep...just like they were in 1997...with cookies.


How did you deal with this issue? What parts or products did you use? Where did you order them from and with what device?

I did not search the net, nor call anyone regarding this installation while I was at this appt. My phone was used for regular client phone calls.