Are our phones really eavesdropping on us?

About this episode

Have you ever had the eerie feeling that you’re being spied on by your smartphone? You know: you're having dinner with a friend, chatting about how your aging computer is on its last legs, struggling with an old battery and making work a hassle. You’ve decided it’s time to replace it by getting a new one. Lo and behold, the next day, while casually surfing the internet, you're bombarded with ads for shiny new computers, even though you never actually searched for them online.  No need to worry, you're not under surveillance by FBI agents. Apple did admit a few years back that it was listening to iPhone users, but only after the voice assistant was activated. According to American cybersecurity expert Daniel Markuson: "Applications installed on your smartphone are eavesdropping on background noise, including conversations, to collect more information about you. Later on, the data gathered is shared with other devices." But is it just Apple that's doing this? And why would they do this? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here: ⁠What are the UK’s most haunted places to visit?⁠ ⁠Why do we enjoy being scared?⁠ ⁠What is chromophobia?⁠ A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance. First Broadcast: 1/11/2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices