Your friend has come to visit. You drink coffee and talk together. You casually mentioned that you needed to buy a new hair dryer because the old one was starting to break down. You changed the subject. Then, you check your phone, and suddenly ads for hair dryers appear on the website you're visiting. Do you know anything about this? Is your phone listening to you?
Yes, in many respects it already happens. But that doesn't mean someone sits in a cubicle in a big office building and puts on headphones and writes down what you're talking about. Your phone uses algorithms to detect keywords spoken within its “nearby” range. Based on this, it performs an analysis and shows you offers from different stores or websites that adapt to your needs. This makes us feel like we are being watched. Sometimes, we don't even realize that we've said something out loud, and ads start bombarding us from all sides. In such situations, this type of advertising may seem more aggressive and create a feeling of fear.
It turns out that you can regain your sense of security in a very simple way. All you have to do is dive into your phone's settings. The system cannot collect data without your permission, and you can find this permission precisely in the settings.
If your phone uses the Android operating system, simply go to Settings and scroll down to “Privacy.” There you look for permission to access the microphone and remove access for any applications to which you want to deny this access. You should also take a look at which apps can only use the microphone when the app is open. Some of them run in the background even when they are not actively open. You can also set up which programs can run in the background according to your own preferences. If you are an iPhone user, in Settings you will also find a section called “Privacy & Security.” Here you will find settings for accessing the microphone and removing access for all applications containing it, type Copita.
Now your phone will not collect data through the microphone. You can safely discuss your needs and purchasing plans while keeping them close by. It's still worth taking a closer look at other privacy settings, because it's not just the microphone that's used to collect data about you.
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