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Post by pre65 on Feb 18, 2020 8:57:03 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Feb 18, 2020 9:13:48 GMT
I knew there was good reason to suspect Alexa of feeding back information! And people condemn companies like Samsung (TVs) and Huawei (phones) for doing the same thing.
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Post by Slinger on Feb 18, 2020 13:34:18 GMT
I read that this morning. None of it actually surprised me. Amazon and Huawei, both of whose devices I use, can collect what they like about me, they'll soon get bored following my life.  I have to say, Amazon's predictions don't always work. Quite often I've bought something and within a day or two either the item I bought, or the equivalent that Amazon want to push, has appeared in "Today's Deals" which is a bit bloody late for both them, and me. That's one of the ways I sussed that offers which appeared global were actually being individually tailored for me. I don't have the "Ring" doorbells, I have no need of one as I already have an entryphone. I do have Amazon 'Dots' and 'Shows' throughout the place, and an Amazon Fire TV box, and a Fire tablet, and a Kindle. I've got other non-Amazon Alexa-capable devices too, LED light bulbs for instance.. |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 18, 2020 15:09:53 GMT
If your lights flicker "help me" in Morse, there's a Chinese gentleman somewhere in need of aid!
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Post by Slinger on Feb 18, 2020 21:33:53 GMT
As if to prove a point, a supposedly random "sponsored" advertisement from Amazon has just popped up in my Farcebook feed. It features, a Blue-ray I purchased today, four items from my wish lists, three items I assume they think I might buy, including the Ring doorbell I said earlier I don't need, and a different Brother label printer to the one I bought yesterday and that I probably looked before eventually choosing the model I purchased.
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Post by Tim on Feb 18, 2020 23:39:34 GMT
Yup, knew all that Philip having had an Echo for sometime now - it's fairly straightforward (all though I doubt many do it) to go into your settings on the Alexa app and review everything you've ever said to Alexa - quite amusing. You can also delete your history and set up a way for Alexa to delete your history with a voice command. They don't tell you about it, you have to find it and opt in, but it's there.
My Kindle is permanently in flight mode as I don't buy books from the Amazon store, so I 'think' they don't know what I'm reading, but don't really care anyway.
Here's one for you, which highlights it's not just Amazon - Google have been auto word scanning Gmail for sometime, but it's obvious they monitor and data mine RCS text messaging on Android devices too . . . example;
A couple of days ago I was messaging my nephew who's also a huge film buff, we both use Android phones and pretty much all the time RCS is used (you can tell by the colour of the message - light blue SMS, dark blue RCS). Anyway, we were talking about how bad the Fifty Shades films are and I don't think I've mentioned them anywhere else before then, apart from here. So what then comes up in my YouTube recommended video feed, after having never once searched for it or read an online review before? A recommended film review for Fifty Shades Freed, which is nowhere near my wheelhouse regarding the type of films reviews I watch and it's never been recommended before.
That would be a nigh on impossible coincidence my friends.
Another one . . . Ebuyer obviously monitor and associate your IP address to your email address if you've shopped there, unless Google are sharing browsing data? Yesterday I thought about buying a wireless keyboard, this morning an Ebuyer email arrives, which wasn't just an add, but a targeted sell based on what I had looked at last night.
"Not Quite Found What You're Looking For?
Based on your recent activity we thought we'd share some recommendations that might be of interest.
Your Last Viewed Product
prod-image
Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 Plus QWERTY UK
-920-007143-
I£32.78 inc VAT
Similar To Your Last Viewed Product"
And so on . . and that wasn't anything more than me using an Android tablet, browsing to Ebuyer and looking at the above keyboard, which I've never looked at before. I wasn't logged in to Ebuyer, just went there from typing Ebuyer in the browser address bar.
If you use technology and the internet, EVERYONE is disseminating your data usage, not just Amazon. We are as much a product as the products we buy.
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Post by Slinger on Feb 19, 2020 0:01:52 GMT
I've had a few "coincidences" too. It's not unusual to get a product recommendation on a site and then realise that I had browsed something similar previously. Then reality actually kicks in and I remember that yes, I had looked at something similar, but on a different, and what I thought was a totally unconnected, website.
If I'm in need of a new theme tune it might as well be a damn good one...
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Post by Slinger on Feb 20, 2020 15:08:30 GMT
Here's another. Earlier today I wanted an image to fit a post I was making here, so I Googled the phrase " Fire Up The Quatro" and I found the image I ended up using by courtesy of a company that makes tee-shirts. Facebook, about an hour later, has served me a sponsored ad from Audi UK. Coincidence?  |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 20, 2020 15:44:22 GMT
LOL - serves you right!
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