It is always listening.

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
What about smart fridges? that can track your food consumption, to (obviously!!) help make & maintain a shopping list.. as well as family events & school neds..
 
Here's a fun one: doorbell camera advertising itself as having a local-only use actually uploads some data and pics to the cloud:

https://www.macrumors.com/2022/11/29/eufy-camera-cloud-uploads-no-user-consent/
My security cameras are pro grade stuff and communicate only with my server; the cameras are on a separate subnet and have no path to the internet so they can't phone home.

I can access the server remotely, of course, through a secure VPN.
 
The last two places my wife worked. One on the ranges and then at the Nevada Test Site were phone free zones. At the Test Site you had to lock your phone up in a locker outside Pass and ID.
 
The geofencing comment is interesting. A couple of years ago I was browsing in a Bass Pro store, by myself. Went to the binocular display and was looking at the items in the case. No one was with me, or around me, and I didn’t speak to anyone. No sales reps were at the counter talking about binoculars. Later that day, and for a few days, I was gettIng all kinds of feed on various binoculars. Even stranger is that I didn’t shop for binoculars before or after using my phone or computer. I should try that again and see what happens.
 
The geofencing comment is interesting. A couple of years ago I was browsing in a Bass Pro store, by myself. Went to the binocular display and was looking at the items in the case. No one was with me, or around me, and I didn’t speak to anyone. No sales reps were at the counter talking about binoculars. Later that day, and for a few days, I was gettIng all kinds of feed on various binoculars. Even stranger is that I didn’t shop for binoculars before or after using my phone or computer. I should try that again and see what happens.
That's not geofencing so much as BTLE beacon retargeting.
 
I work as a contractor for the Air Force Research Lab. When COVID hit and we were all sent home to telework, security sent out am email advising us to turn off Alexa, Siri, and any voice digital assistants when talking work. Those things listen to every word and pose a security risk.
Supposedly, Furbys were banned in government facilities for much the same reason.
 
Supposedly, Furbys were banned in government facilities for much the same reason.
On January 13, 1999, it was reported the National Security Agency of the United States banned Furbies from entering NSA's property due to concerns that they may be used to record and repeat classified information, advising those that see any on NSA property to "contact their Staff Security Officer for guidance."

Furby on Wiki
 
On January 13, 1999, it was reported the National Security Agency of the United States banned Furbies from entering NSA's property due to concerns that they may be used to record and repeat classified information, advising those that see any on NSA property to "contact their Staff Security Officer for guidance."

Furby on Wiki
Thanks for the confirmation!

I remembered something about it, but was too lazy to look it up, so I put the caveat in there.
 
Put phone in microwave.
Heat for 15 seconds.
No more listening.

Too gentle. I resist the urge to beat mine to death with a steel shafted claw hammer about 30 times a day. One day I will succumb to that urge. I once threw a GPS off the Sydney Harbour Bridge while I was driving over it. Very satisfying.

Not saying I just hate modern technology; I don't even like electric car windows.
 
I turned off "Listen for Hey Siri" on my iPhone, it only listens if I hold the button down for a few seconds. I'd turn it off completely, except that my car has Apple Car Play, and it's convenient to hit the button on the steering wheel that turns on Siri, so I can say "Call ..."

I got a couple of Echo Dot's a few years ago as giveaways at a conference, I had one connected for about one day before I decided that it was way too creepy.
 
That doesn't really work . . .

Try this . . . Place your cellphone in a microwave oven and shut the door . . . Call the phone . . . I bet it rings ! ( I tried this myself )

Dave F.
How's the voice quality from inside the microwave?
 
I'm curious to know why it rings? I know modern 5G operate on 3 frequency bands with the upper band being potentially an order of mag higher than typical oven magnetron frequency, but I would've expected the perforated door shielding to be fine enough to catch most of that wavelength?

TP
 
There are "5G" bands at 700Mhz - shielding probably less effective at that frequency OR I would avoid Ez2cDave's microwave.
 
I turned off "Listen for Hey Siri" on my iPhone, it only listens if I hold the button down for a few seconds. I'd turn it off completely, except that my car has Apple Car Play, and it's convenient to hit the button on the steering wheel that turns on Siri, so I can say "Call ..."

I got a couple of Echo Dot's a few years ago as giveaways at a conference, I had one connected for about one day before I decided that it was way too creepy.
How do you KNOW that anything is turned off or disabled?
I bet that software setting is just a placebo....does nothing.

How can you still find your iPhone when it's "OFF?" - a feature Apple just bragged about.....
 
How do you KNOW that anything is turned off or disabled?
I bet that software setting is just a placebo....does nothing.

How can you still find your iPhone when it's "OFF?" - a feature Apple just bragged about.....
There's nothing sinister about the "find iPhone when it is off." This functionality is a combination of the phone sending its last known location when it powers down ( so you can find the last place where it was alive), and a newer function where the iPhone basically works as an AirTag when it is off, so other iphones within range will notice it and report its location to the Find My network. You can turn these features off if you like.
I'm not an iPhone expert, just have a work one. Mostly I'm an Android guy. But you can read more here:
https://www.iphonelife.com/blog/31961/tip-day-find-your-lost-iphone-even-if-battery-has-died
 
Back
Top