iPhone is listening
iPhone is listening
Ok I have a question. I'm kinda a noob when it comes to privacy. I'll follow the guides and do the things to try to minimize ad companies selling my data etc.
Some basic stats: I have a Samsung running stock android. My GF has an iPhone. I use brave as my standard browser (I know that's not super popular but I haven't made the move to Firefox yet.) I have DNS level ad blocking on my router cause I hate ads with a passion. She uses safari.
So here's the deal. I was browsing the web looking for gift ideas for Christmas and came across some moccasins I liked. I mentioned to her that I liked them and browsed their website for a few minutes.
About 10 minutes after that, she's checking her Instagram and sees an ad for the exact brand of moccasin I just told her about. Just for kicks, she also checks her Facebook and sees the same ad there (makes sense cause it's the same company).
My question is basically how on earth did she get an ad for something I looked up? And how can we prevent that from happening? It's very very disconcerting to have ads pop up on others' phones right after looking that thing up.
One possibility: Are you on the same network (i.e. wifi) without a vpn? If yes, then both of you have the same public IP, so it’s trivial to figure out you’re likely in the same household.
85I also hear people make the same claims against Alexa, but I usually start explaining what cookies are and how ad networks collects your data to more effectively target you. It doesn’t make fiscal sense to do mass audio surveillance when you already freely hand over your data.
41Most likely this. If not, there is a host of other possibilities they could make the connection. Sone that come to mind:
- You both have instagram and have connected in a way that makes it likely you are in a close relationship (tagged in photos, DMs)
- She allows Instagram to access the contacts on her phone, and OP is saved in there as her S.O.
- They are connected through Whatsapp or some other Meta service.
- The Company targets their ads at category which they both fall into (companies can manage which groups see their ads VERY specifically)
- Coincidence
23Between this and geolocation I'd say its not hard to figure out you guys are in the same house
13It's basically always this. Your phone in the same room with someone else's phone. This is stronger around christmas when people are looking for gift ideas, so they push this mind control shit on you even harder.
It's not actually listening to you--that's been debunked multiple ways--but what it's doing instead is arguably worse.
13So what are the mechanics of this? OP would also have had to interact with Meta somehow after finding the moccasins but before the girlfriend did, right?
1No, you don’t have to interact with Meta. Websites that utilize Facebook ads in some fashion will install a Meta Pixel to their site in order to track users and better target their ads. That information can be correlated to others in the same household extremely easily.
You can read about the specifics of how Meta does it in their developer information here: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/meta-pixel/
13
The first thing that pops up in my mind is your public IPv4. You see, in your home LAN every device uses the same public IPv4 to communicate in the internet. So if one device browses for something like an iPhone and you're being tracked then those ad brokers deliver iPhone ads to this public IPv4 and every device behind this public IPv4 will see those ads. Nobody on the internet knows whether behind this public IPv4 is a single device or a LAN with many devices.
20Chances are its much simpler than that
20Yup. Maybe even just pure coincidence. People are very susceptible to confirmation bias and, as an extra spicy hot take, people in communities like this one even more so.
3
Welcome to advertising tricks. My SO gets my ads because I block them too. "Blocks ads" is a data point that is tracking you around the web. They simply redirect your content to the next closest impressionable consumer. If they can't reach you, they'll market everywhere around you.
But this takes off doubly so this time of year. This trick really ramps up around gift giving events like The holidays, v-day, birthdays, or other life events.
16Is there any way to prevent search information from being linked to me? Like some way so ad companies can't even gather than information That would be great
2-Privacy friendly sites (no google, ddg/searxng and stuff) -VPN (Proton is private with a free tier, Mullvad for maximum privacy) -Fingerprint blocking in browser (Brave has it too standard, put it on aggressive)
6
As long as you are running closed source Operating Systems, they can listen to whatever they want, and scan whatever they want that's happening on your screen. Wake up people. Facepalm.
11Very common. Advertisers already know everyone you come in contact with, or ar least those whom you spend time with. They will use that info to push ads to the group, or to the relevant people of that group.
It's Christmas time, you browse moccasins store for 10min, obviously you're interested in them. Why wouldn't advertisers show that item to your gf? That's like the perfect ad for her.
11You have DNS ad blocking, but not IP encryption or DNS rerouting. DNS rerouting encrypts your plaintext DNS lookups, but your packets are still very much sniffable. If you aren't using a VPN + DNS filtering/rerouting, you're not anonymous. Also, if your girlfriend is away from home, she's probably completely unmasked on the internet. Same with you. Your phone keeps that metadata. Also, Facebook and Instagram all use tracking software that tracks your activity even if you close the apps. It would be wise to delete your facebook and instagram accounts as they aren't really necessary to live a happy life and they are actively spying on you.
If you really need to share photos, I'd recommend flickr or photobucket, and if you need to talk about yourself, get a blog. Your actual friends and family will find a way to stay in touch with you.
9Do you have a Facebook/instagram account where you have marked your GF as your GF or tagged your GF in a lot of photos? More likely than not, Meta pays attention to those connections and shows ads to people it deems close to you based on your browsing history. And remember that Meta tracks user actions beyond what they do on Meta sites.
8Same Wifi. If you want to not be identified to your home, use a VPN like Mullvad.
But yeah GFs with iphones, love it.
8same thing happened to me. talked about very specific health-related topic, didn't googled it or anything, the next day instagram came up with ads for the very same specific health subject.
for a start, you can check instagram's permissions (and facebook of you use it, it's meta too) and disable access to microphone.
however, that leaves whatsapp which is also meta and mic is more of a neccesity than insta/fb, but in my case, haven't seen weird ads for subjects i didn't typed into any devices since i disabled insta mic access.
5Few days ago I was talking with my wife about groceries, reminded her about buying more cat food. My daughter was sitting next to me, playing some game on her Android phone. Then she chirped "I got a cat food ad! I've never gotten a cat food ad before, ever! It's like the phone heard what you just said, dad!"
Yep. VPN and Adguard are now installed to every single mobile device in my household.
5I got ads for sexual assault therapy after I talked to my friend about my assault. I was livid. The audacity to try to make money off assault victims.
5
It's irrelevant which phone you use, iOS or Android, all smartphones are spyware by definition, risky to have important data in it.
3As others have said, it may be the same WiFe.
I am pretty sure the iPhone is listening though, because I saw a prank where a woman whispered to the husband's iPhone about baby stuff (to have a baby), and he complained about receiving a ton of ads about baby stuff just after that. So yes, welcome to the apple garden ahah
2Now do that but with your samsung phone.
2Not iphone but this ones from google https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2019/07/10/google-employees-are-eavesdropping-even-in-flemish-living-rooms/
3
Some people say it's your IP, but actually IP is rarely used for tracking
On the way to privacy there are some things you should know:
- Companies know who are your friends, especially if you communicate on the same messaging apps, etc
- Also they have your location
- And it seems like apps and Instagram are always listening (so if you say "pizza, pizza, pizza, I really like pizza, I really want to buy pizza now around me" you will get an ad with pizza)
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