Siri “unintentionally” recorded private convos; Apple agrees to pay $95M
January 4, 2025 5:47 AM Subscribe
In 2023, Apple made $95 million in profit every 8.6 hours.
posted by Lemkin at 5:54 AM on January 4 [25 favorites]
posted by Lemkin at 5:54 AM on January 4 [25 favorites]
$95 million / $20 means they only expect 4.8 million people to claim. There are over 1.38 billion iPhone users worldwide.
posted by Lanark at 6:11 AM on January 4 [7 favorites]
posted by Lanark at 6:11 AM on January 4 [7 favorites]
fight or flight, there has been spirited discussion on the blue and the purple about Succession and I am firmly on the side of: that shit is delicious
Thanks for the reminder
posted by ginger.beef at 6:23 AM on January 4
Thanks for the reminder
posted by ginger.beef at 6:23 AM on January 4
There are over 1.38 billion iPhone users worldwide.
Many of whom would have had multiple Siri-enabled devices within that timeframe.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:40 AM on January 4
Many of whom would have had multiple Siri-enabled devices within that timeframe.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:40 AM on January 4
Gee, it's almost as if spending many hundreds of dollars on an always-on audio surveillance device with location tracking and a direct line back to the corporate mothership and then carrying it around with you everywhere you go has always been a terrible idea on its face.
smug luddite is best luddite
posted by flabdablet at 6:49 AM on January 4 [12 favorites]
smug luddite is best luddite
posted by flabdablet at 6:49 AM on January 4 [12 favorites]
Fact is, though, that the conjecture that spookily targeted ads are a result of your phone vendor conducting and/or facilitating ongoing audio surveillance is probably not justifiable.
The truth is way nastier: they don't need to do that. Big Advertising has a model of you that predicts what you might be expressing interest in at any given moment of the day, built from data gleaned from multiple sources, and those models are just scarily accurate.
posted by flabdablet at 6:55 AM on January 4 [12 favorites]
The truth is way nastier: they don't need to do that. Big Advertising has a model of you that predicts what you might be expressing interest in at any given moment of the day, built from data gleaned from multiple sources, and those models are just scarily accurate.
posted by flabdablet at 6:55 AM on January 4 [12 favorites]
Being a paranoiac, I've gone to great lengths to turn off surveillance on my android phone, but it still has an uncanny ability to show me a highly obscure youtube video on some obscure topic I've never shown an interest in mere days after having mentioned it in conversation. It might be pure confirmation bias, but I fully expect Google are doing the exact same thing.
posted by Acey at 7:15 AM on January 4 [6 favorites]
posted by Acey at 7:15 AM on January 4 [6 favorites]
I've gone to great lengths to turn off surveillance on my android phone, but it still has an uncanny ability to show me a highly obscure youtube video on some obscure topic I've never shown an interest in mere days after having mentioned it in conversation.
You want Grayjay. So much better than either the native YouTube app or YouTube in a browser.
posted by flabdablet at 7:21 AM on January 4 [2 favorites]
You want Grayjay. So much better than either the native YouTube app or YouTube in a browser.
posted by flabdablet at 7:21 AM on January 4 [2 favorites]
I’ve always wondered about the ads during games where they promo Siri, and say, “Just ask Siri…” and there’s that Siri noise.
My paranoid brain believes they use that blink to capture all phones who are watching that event so they can further analyze who they are with, who is watching the game, what games are being watched…etc for data collection and advertising revenue.
posted by glaucon at 7:51 AM on January 4 [4 favorites]
My paranoid brain believes they use that blink to capture all phones who are watching that event so they can further analyze who they are with, who is watching the game, what games are being watched…etc for data collection and advertising revenue.
posted by glaucon at 7:51 AM on January 4 [4 favorites]
Big Advertising has a model of you that predicts what you might be expressing interest in at any given moment of the day, built from data gleaned from multiple sources, and those models are just scarily accurate.
The YouTube algorithm recently recommended to me a video whose only conceivable relevance was that its subject had recently appeared on MetaFilter's front page - even though I had not clicked into the post or followed any of its links.
I have Ghostery installed and set to block cross-site tracking.
posted by Lemkin at 8:03 AM on January 4
The YouTube algorithm recently recommended to me a video whose only conceivable relevance was that its subject had recently appeared on MetaFilter's front page - even though I had not clicked into the post or followed any of its links.
I have Ghostery installed and set to block cross-site tracking.
posted by Lemkin at 8:03 AM on January 4
Facebook is the only social media I mess with anymore, and these days hardly at all. I share photos with friends and family if I go on a trip, or every once in a while I post some interesting or funny link I find (some I find here). I actively access Facebook maybe once every two months, sometimes less frequently. I used to interact far more often, but mostly I posted the funny/interesting links or an occasional photo (usually of a Thing, not a human).
Almost all the ads I get on FB are for technical underwear, pants and other outdoor gear. I live in a huge city and rarely go anywhere anyone could consider to be the wilderness. I rarely even go to parks. I do get ads from clothing companies where I have purchased things in the past, too, but that's to be entirely expected.
The only reliable uses I have ever found for Siri is setting timers for cooking, and (very rarely) sending my wife short texts if I am driving. Otherwise, Siri has never worked well for me at all. I tried all sorts of things when it came out, but it would produce inaccurate or questionable results at best.
I shrug and move on. I'm not claiming to be a Neo Luddite or "above" any of this, but I just don't see the creepy patterns I hear about so oftentimes. Maybe I am the one not looking closely enough?
posted by SoberHighland at 8:04 AM on January 4
Almost all the ads I get on FB are for technical underwear, pants and other outdoor gear. I live in a huge city and rarely go anywhere anyone could consider to be the wilderness. I rarely even go to parks. I do get ads from clothing companies where I have purchased things in the past, too, but that's to be entirely expected.
The only reliable uses I have ever found for Siri is setting timers for cooking, and (very rarely) sending my wife short texts if I am driving. Otherwise, Siri has never worked well for me at all. I tried all sorts of things when it came out, but it would produce inaccurate or questionable results at best.
I shrug and move on. I'm not claiming to be a Neo Luddite or "above" any of this, but I just don't see the creepy patterns I hear about so oftentimes. Maybe I am the one not looking closely enough?
posted by SoberHighland at 8:04 AM on January 4
I feel like the Android devices I have leak way more activity data than my Apple devices do. I disable the standby voice assistants on all phones and tablets, and rarely use them manually; so whenever I see ads reflecting something I've done on a mobile device, it's from either OS-level search, browser or in-app activity.
I do have Echoes, which I compromise on as I live alone (so the emergency helpline feature is a plus) and they help with executive function and also I like my discount Star Trek voice controlled lights and kitchen timers and audio controls, etc.
Whatever evil is being done with them beyond trying to sell me random shit from saved items or elicit reviews on stuff I ordered is kept subtle.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:07 AM on January 4
I do have Echoes, which I compromise on as I live alone (so the emergency helpline feature is a plus) and they help with executive function and also I like my discount Star Trek voice controlled lights and kitchen timers and audio controls, etc.
Whatever evil is being done with them beyond trying to sell me random shit from saved items or elicit reviews on stuff I ordered is kept subtle.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:07 AM on January 4
I do run some blocking and filtering at the network level at home -- formerly Untangle, now OPNsense with Zenarmor and I forget what else. But I tend to just set it and forget it until something breaks. So I'm running with whatever alternative DNS, blocklists and etc. I selected at install, as auto-updated.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:19 AM on January 4 [2 favorites]
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:19 AM on January 4 [2 favorites]
After watching my friends having to yell at and repeat/rephrase things to their Siris/Alexas/Hey Googles, I decided it wasn't yet mature enough for me. Also, I'm taking a pass until I'm confident that my audio (raw or parsed) isn't being harvested and monopolized. Naive, I know. But at the moment it's still usually faster and always more discreet for me to type in queries and commands rather than speaking them.
posted by Artful Codger at 8:42 AM on January 4 [2 favorites]
posted by Artful Codger at 8:42 AM on January 4 [2 favorites]
Big Advertising has a model of you that predicts what you might be expressing interest in at any given moment of the day, built from data gleaned from multiple sources, and those models are just scarily accurate.
if that was true, their ads would be better
posted by ryanrs at 8:56 AM on January 4 [4 favorites]
if that was true, their ads would be better
posted by ryanrs at 8:56 AM on January 4 [4 favorites]
smug luddite is best luddite
Honestly, it isn't.
posted by ambrosen at 9:09 AM on January 4 [4 favorites]
Honestly, it isn't.
posted by ambrosen at 9:09 AM on January 4 [4 favorites]
I'm confident that my audio (raw or parsed) isn't being harvested and monopolized.
I think about this, but on the other hand I'm not sure a voice model capable of fooling anyone can be generated from a thousand instances of "living room lights off" or "set a timer for five minutes" etc.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:18 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
I think about this, but on the other hand I'm not sure a voice model capable of fooling anyone can be generated from a thousand instances of "living room lights off" or "set a timer for five minutes" etc.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:18 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
What tech today doesn't have a microphone in it?
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:40 AM on January 4
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 9:40 AM on January 4
What tech today doesn't have a microphone in it?
Here are a few.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:09 AM on January 4 [4 favorites]
Here are a few.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 10:09 AM on January 4 [4 favorites]
that link is showing me a real microphone as the first result, ymmv
posted by ryanrs at 10:32 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
posted by ryanrs at 10:32 AM on January 4 [1 favorite]
Feeling somewhat smug about never having had a cell phone, but on the other hand, gonna miss out on that sweet Apple payout money.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:53 AM on January 4
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:53 AM on January 4
Siri in our house gets confused a lot because one of our cats is named Berry, and if we say "Hey Berry" and talk to the cat, Siri thinks it's for her. This is our contribution to fucking up the data sets, as Siri doesn't understand why we want it to get off the counter or stop scratching the sofa.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 11:08 AM on January 4 [7 favorites]
posted by gentlyepigrams at 11:08 AM on January 4 [7 favorites]
...targeted ads...
...I do get ads from...
...whenever I see ads...
...their ads would be better...
You guys see ads??
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:16 AM on January 4 [9 favorites]
...I do get ads from...
...whenever I see ads...
...their ads would be better...
You guys see ads??
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:16 AM on January 4 [9 favorites]
The truth is way nastier: they don't need to do that. Big Advertising has a model of you that predicts what you might be expressing interest in at any given moment of the day, built from data gleaned from multiple sources, and those models are just scarily accurate.
I'm not convinced that this is nastier.
It just gives Apple/Google/Meta an excuse for doing what everyone suspected they were doing all along.
It's the same defense that has been repeated any time someone mentioned that their conversations must have been recorded.
It makes it sound like a statistics problem. But this is a highly personal matter.
For many (most?) people, the most private and intimate conversations we have are most definitely offline. And that's for a reason. Now those conversations are secretly recorded and stored on a computers all over the place.
I can at least somewhat control what I input into my electronic devices. And I certainly have tried to. I don't take notes on anything medical related, private relationship matters, etc etc.
Well Apple decided they'll make all of those efforts futile and suck up my private personal matters anyway. What a dickhead corporation.
Who's to say there aren't employees or other malicious actors listening to these recordings? If apple is so competent that they're "accidentally" recording our conversations, are they competent enough to keep those conversations secure? I sincerely doubt it.
For all of this, 20 bucks?
posted by UN at 1:34 PM on January 4
I'm not convinced that this is nastier.
It just gives Apple/Google/Meta an excuse for doing what everyone suspected they were doing all along.
It's the same defense that has been repeated any time someone mentioned that their conversations must have been recorded.
It makes it sound like a statistics problem. But this is a highly personal matter.
For many (most?) people, the most private and intimate conversations we have are most definitely offline. And that's for a reason. Now those conversations are secretly recorded and stored on a computers all over the place.
I can at least somewhat control what I input into my electronic devices. And I certainly have tried to. I don't take notes on anything medical related, private relationship matters, etc etc.
Well Apple decided they'll make all of those efforts futile and suck up my private personal matters anyway. What a dickhead corporation.
Who's to say there aren't employees or other malicious actors listening to these recordings? If apple is so competent that they're "accidentally" recording our conversations, are they competent enough to keep those conversations secure? I sincerely doubt it.
For all of this, 20 bucks?
posted by UN at 1:34 PM on January 4
You guys see ads??
Show me your phone or laptop and I'll show you an ad on it within, I don't know, 2-5 seconds.
posted by UN at 1:41 PM on January 4
Show me your phone or laptop and I'll show you an ad on it within, I don't know, 2-5 seconds.
posted by UN at 1:41 PM on January 4
Sure, good luck with that. You'd have to work really hard to make an ad display on a device of mine, and it ain't gonna happen in 5 seconds.
Pi-Hole on my local network. Always-on ProtonVPN on all devices along with Firefox using a combination of Ghostery (set to "block all") / uBlock Origin / NoScript / Enhancer + Sponsorblock for YouTube (blocking ads/in-video sponsor/engagement content), Google tag/ad/optimize/analytics along with all other ad/tracking/etc. sites and cookies blocked, max available browser protection settings, Bluetooth/NFC/Location disabled most of the time on my phone except when I'm actively using one of them. I don't subscribe to cable TV nor any streaming services, and I have a dumb TV. IoT has not gained the teeniest pinky-toe-hold in my house. That's just off the top of my head, I might be forgetting one or two things, and I'm sure I could (and will) take it further.
Paranoid? Maybe, but for me it's worth it to be able to browse contentedly ad-free. I won't claim my online life is "impenetrable" by any means; but even if though Google et al is constantly gathering data on me*, I don't have to subject myself to the results.
*I hope they're not easily bored
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:22 PM on January 4 [4 favorites]
Pi-Hole on my local network. Always-on ProtonVPN on all devices along with Firefox using a combination of Ghostery (set to "block all") / uBlock Origin / NoScript / Enhancer + Sponsorblock for YouTube (blocking ads/in-video sponsor/engagement content), Google tag/ad/optimize/analytics along with all other ad/tracking/etc. sites and cookies blocked, max available browser protection settings, Bluetooth/NFC/Location disabled most of the time on my phone except when I'm actively using one of them. I don't subscribe to cable TV nor any streaming services, and I have a dumb TV. IoT has not gained the teeniest pinky-toe-hold in my house. That's just off the top of my head, I might be forgetting one or two things, and I'm sure I could (and will) take it further.
Paranoid? Maybe, but for me it's worth it to be able to browse contentedly ad-free. I won't claim my online life is "impenetrable" by any means; but even
*I hope they're not easily bored
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:22 PM on January 4 [4 favorites]
The YouTube algorithm recently recommended to me a video whose only conceivable relevance was that its subject had recently appeared on MetaFilter's front page - even though I had not clicked into the post or followed any of its links.To be fair this sometimes happens in reverse - the top post on MeFi right now mentions Bertrand Russell, and I just re-read In Praise of Idleness the other day after not thinking about Russell for years (I can't remember what prompted me to). It seems like an amazing coincidence but perhaps Russell is just "going around" right now, triggered by some anniversary or who knows what.
posted by L.P. Hatecraft at 2:48 PM on January 4
That is the 'frequency illusion,' or 'Baader-Meinhoff effect.'
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:12 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:12 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
Big Advertising has a model of you that predicts what you might be expressing interest in at any given moment of the day, built from data gleaned from multiple sources, and those models are just scarily accurate.
I'm with ryanrs here: Other than a few ads as mindless echoes of topics I've done recent searches and some browsing on (I was on a radio kick; oh look - ads for radios), the Internet advertising I receive is almost always NOT what I'm in market for, or remotely interested in. And in general, compared to print or even TV, Internet ads are much more likely to be way off-point for me, annoying, cheap and unentertaining.
And this kills me. Internet advertisers and the sites that host them have all the tools they need to serve up targeted and entertaining ads to users. If they have this amazingly accurate picture of me, then why do they keep serving me ads that I have repeatedly closed, and giving them feedback that those ads were uninteresting and/or inappropriate?
Here's one, Google, FB etc etc - why don't you straight up ask me what ads I might be interested in - ie the chance to edit my own ad profile, to indicate what categories I'd be less hostile to? Or at least learn from the ads I rejected?
Instead, Internet advertising is a shotgun approach. Spray your cheap-ass ad everywhere; you might turn off 50+% of viewers, but if you get one click-thru in 100,000 views it's a win.
I like to contrast Internet advertising with magazines, where the ads are "curated" and positioned to appeal to (or at least not offend or annoy) the sort of reader who's picked up that magazine in the first place. When's the last time you bought a magazine and later threw it down in disgust because an ad was inappropriate, intrusive, zero appeal, offensive even?
/rant
posted by Artful Codger at 3:15 PM on January 4
I'm with ryanrs here: Other than a few ads as mindless echoes of topics I've done recent searches and some browsing on (I was on a radio kick; oh look - ads for radios), the Internet advertising I receive is almost always NOT what I'm in market for, or remotely interested in. And in general, compared to print or even TV, Internet ads are much more likely to be way off-point for me, annoying, cheap and unentertaining.
And this kills me. Internet advertisers and the sites that host them have all the tools they need to serve up targeted and entertaining ads to users. If they have this amazingly accurate picture of me, then why do they keep serving me ads that I have repeatedly closed, and giving them feedback that those ads were uninteresting and/or inappropriate?
Here's one, Google, FB etc etc - why don't you straight up ask me what ads I might be interested in - ie the chance to edit my own ad profile, to indicate what categories I'd be less hostile to? Or at least learn from the ads I rejected?
Instead, Internet advertising is a shotgun approach. Spray your cheap-ass ad everywhere; you might turn off 50+% of viewers, but if you get one click-thru in 100,000 views it's a win.
I like to contrast Internet advertising with magazines, where the ads are "curated" and positioned to appeal to (or at least not offend or annoy) the sort of reader who's picked up that magazine in the first place. When's the last time you bought a magazine and later threw it down in disgust because an ad was inappropriate, intrusive, zero appeal, offensive even?
/rant
posted by Artful Codger at 3:15 PM on January 4
If they have this amazingly accurate picture of me, then why do they keep serving me ads that I have repeatedly closed, and giving them feedback that those ads were uninteresting and/or inappropriate?
Because they like money, and no one's paying them (or paying them enough) to show you things you might like better. And to the extent you are being better targeted, you may still not have have whatever tastes they've assessed you should based on your profile. It's not about selling you the things you're actively interested in, it's about projecting what someone with your interests and traits and social graph can be enticed to buy.
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:44 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
Because they like money, and no one's paying them (or paying them enough) to show you things you might like better. And to the extent you are being better targeted, you may still not have have whatever tastes they've assessed you should based on your profile. It's not about selling you the things you're actively interested in, it's about projecting what someone with your interests and traits and social graph can be enticed to buy.
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:44 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
... it's about projecting what someone with your interests and traits and social graph can be enticed to buy.
Big fail with me, then, if that was the goal.
posted by Artful Codger at 7:25 PM on January 4
Big fail with me, then, if that was the goal.
posted by Artful Codger at 7:25 PM on January 4
By "users may get 20 dollars" they mean "lawyers will get $19.63 and the actual customers will get $0.37", right?
Or is it only rich Apple users who actually get payouts worth a damn in a class action suit? Because everytime *I* am a member of a class action suit it's like I can buy a candy bar. Yay.
posted by symbioid at 7:32 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
Or is it only rich Apple users who actually get payouts worth a damn in a class action suit? Because everytime *I* am a member of a class action suit it's like I can buy a candy bar. Yay.
posted by symbioid at 7:32 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
iPhones typically had less spyware than Android, but maybe that's changed somewhat.
At a high level, Android phones have four-ish spyware providers:
1. Anything regular computers have, like the browser, which seems like another topic.
2. All google's spyware: ASOP seems minimal, Google play services brings more, and each Google app brings yet more.
3. Any Android except Pixels have the OEM spyware
4. Carriers like AT&T install spyware on phones they sell
A stock Pixel comes with only 1 & 2, making it morally analogous to an iPhone from an Apple Store, except Google remains a worse company.
If otoh you run Graphene OS on your Pixel, then you'll likely have less outright spyware than an iPhone. Any Android might've more 0day vulnerabilities vs advanced attackers though.
posted by jeffburdges at 8:08 PM on January 4
At a high level, Android phones have four-ish spyware providers:
1. Anything regular computers have, like the browser, which seems like another topic.
2. All google's spyware: ASOP seems minimal, Google play services brings more, and each Google app brings yet more.
3. Any Android except Pixels have the OEM spyware
4. Carriers like AT&T install spyware on phones they sell
A stock Pixel comes with only 1 & 2, making it morally analogous to an iPhone from an Apple Store, except Google remains a worse company.
If otoh you run Graphene OS on your Pixel, then you'll likely have less outright spyware than an iPhone. Any Android might've more 0day vulnerabilities vs advanced attackers though.
posted by jeffburdges at 8:08 PM on January 4
Big fail with me, then, if that was the goal.
This is like if you had a yard full of cats and turned the garden hose on them to disperse them, and a couple were fine with it. Sure, the few would be like "this is great" but otherwise it works a treat on the herd. Well, really more like the inverse of that, but it's the metaphor that came to mind.
Same idea with ads. Sometimes I do wonder what cohort of people YT thinks I belong to, but other times I'm like "yeah, I see how you got there."
posted by axiom at 8:49 PM on January 4
This is like if you had a yard full of cats and turned the garden hose on them to disperse them, and a couple were fine with it. Sure, the few would be like "this is great" but otherwise it works a treat on the herd. Well, really more like the inverse of that, but it's the metaphor that came to mind.
Same idea with ads. Sometimes I do wonder what cohort of people YT thinks I belong to, but other times I'm like "yeah, I see how you got there."
posted by axiom at 8:49 PM on January 4
I find it somewhat amusing how transparent linear the ads that I do see are obviously from broad interpretation of pretty specific searches. "Ah, he searched for German paddle restaurant; he must be interested in boat paddles and travel to Germany".
posted by Mitheral at 11:37 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
posted by Mitheral at 11:37 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]
if that was true, their ads would be better
It's a personal judgement call, obviously, but personally I put "scarily accurate" well short of "100% accurate". Scarily accurate, for me, is enough accuracy to account for people feeling spooked as often as they say they are.
Me, I don't feel targeted because (a) although my own ad-blocking policy is not quite as extreme as Greg_Ace's, it works well enough that I too would beat UN's 5-second challenge in a canter* and (b) my phone does not follow me everywhere I go, and has nothing even vaguely comparable to Siri installed on it, and only those apps with a justifiable need for microphone permissions have them.
*To be perfectly frank, all my equipment is second-hand or ultra-cheap or both and I think UN would struggle to make any of it respond to any kind of control input in as little as 5 seconds. Testing: yep. 15 seconds from hitting the search icon to playing this.
posted by flabdablet at 2:31 AM on January 5
It's a personal judgement call, obviously, but personally I put "scarily accurate" well short of "100% accurate". Scarily accurate, for me, is enough accuracy to account for people feeling spooked as often as they say they are.
Me, I don't feel targeted because (a) although my own ad-blocking policy is not quite as extreme as Greg_Ace's, it works well enough that I too would beat UN's 5-second challenge in a canter* and (b) my phone does not follow me everywhere I go, and has nothing even vaguely comparable to Siri installed on it, and only those apps with a justifiable need for microphone permissions have them.
*To be perfectly frank, all my equipment is second-hand or ultra-cheap or both and I think UN would struggle to make any of it respond to any kind of control input in as little as 5 seconds. Testing: yep. 15 seconds from hitting the search icon to playing this.
posted by flabdablet at 2:31 AM on January 5
everytime *I* am a member of a class action suit it's like I can buy a candy bar. Yay.
Just scan the QR code on the wrapper of that candy bar, fill in a few personal details and you too will have a chance to win one of these pickup trucks!
posted by flabdablet at 2:35 AM on January 5
Just scan the QR code on the wrapper of that candy bar, fill in a few personal details and you too will have a chance to win one of these pickup trucks!
posted by flabdablet at 2:35 AM on January 5
Joke's on them, really; billions of dollars invested in how best to separate me from my money? Surprise! I have no money!
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:27 AM on January 5 [2 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:27 AM on January 5 [2 favorites]
The 20th century gave us Cinema Paradiso and the kissing montage
The 21st century will give us the endless stream of flatulence surreptitiously recorded by these billions of personal tracking devices
posted by ginger.beef at 7:40 AM on January 5
The 21st century will give us the endless stream of flatulence surreptitiously recorded by these billions of personal tracking devices
posted by ginger.beef at 7:40 AM on January 5
Yes, there is indeed some comfort to be had from contemplating the amount of time that Siri spends lodged in back pockets.
posted by flabdablet at 8:18 AM on January 5
posted by flabdablet at 8:18 AM on January 5
my own ad-blocking policy is not quite as extreme as Greg_Ace's
Do you despise all forms of advertising with the same profound virulence that I do, or are you reasonably well-adjusted?
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:50 AM on January 5
Do you despise all forms of advertising with the same profound virulence that I do, or are you reasonably well-adjusted?
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:50 AM on January 5
Murderous visceral loathing of Hicksian proportions.
But I'm also extremely lazy, so I employ only just enough countermeasures to keep it at bay rather than going the full defense-in-depth that you describe.
Mostly I rely on running Debian all devices so that my OS vendor isn't trying to help me by helping themselves, refusing to run any browser that can't support uBlock Origin and NoScript, refusing to give YouTube permission to set cookies so I can't be logged into it even accidentally. I don't run a VPN unless you count occasional use of Tor. Haven't had and wont have anything to do with paid streaming services. Consistently use a password manager to store my passwords and the login URLs for the associated services. I use variant email addresses when shopping online so I can tell who sold me out for spam and never deal with them again. Bunch of small stuff, really, but it works for me.
posted by flabdablet at 1:13 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
But I'm also extremely lazy, so I employ only just enough countermeasures to keep it at bay rather than going the full defense-in-depth that you describe.
Mostly I rely on running Debian all devices so that my OS vendor isn't trying to help me by helping themselves, refusing to run any browser that can't support uBlock Origin and NoScript, refusing to give YouTube permission to set cookies so I can't be logged into it even accidentally. I don't run a VPN unless you count occasional use of Tor. Haven't had and wont have anything to do with paid streaming services. Consistently use a password manager to store my passwords and the login URLs for the associated services. I use variant email addresses when shopping online so I can tell who sold me out for spam and never deal with them again. Bunch of small stuff, really, but it works for me.
posted by flabdablet at 1:13 PM on January 5 [1 favorite]
Mostly I rely on running Debian all devices
And that's where my own laziness kicks in. I have a lot of experience using and supporting Windows and Android* so I prefer to mitigate their shortcomings than switch to a different OS. OTOH I like my Pixel 7**, so when Google stops supporting it in a couple years I'll probably switch to GrapheneOS.
* Not so much Apple products, but that's due more to circumstance of employment than any personal views toward the brand. In the Mac/Windows/iOS/Android wars, I'll tell anyone they all suck but I'm a cheapskate so I go for the less expensive hardware.
** But I have to say, it's a bit...smug. When I plugged my old phone into the charger at night, it chirped a merry *bring!*, like "Yay, power! THANK you!". The Pixel 7 (with its larger battery sitting at maybe 60-70%) just emits a short hum, as if to shrug "Ehh - thanks for the thought, but it's not like you couldn't have waited until tomorrow night to recharge me." Ungrateful git.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:54 PM on January 5
And that's where my own laziness kicks in. I have a lot of experience using and supporting Windows and Android* so I prefer to mitigate their shortcomings than switch to a different OS. OTOH I like my Pixel 7**, so when Google stops supporting it in a couple years I'll probably switch to GrapheneOS.
* Not so much Apple products, but that's due more to circumstance of employment than any personal views toward the brand. In the Mac/Windows/iOS/Android wars, I'll tell anyone they all suck but I'm a cheapskate so I go for the less expensive hardware.
** But I have to say, it's a bit...smug. When I plugged my old phone into the charger at night, it chirped a merry *bring!*, like "Yay, power! THANK you!". The Pixel 7 (with its larger battery sitting at maybe 60-70%) just emits a short hum, as if to shrug "Ehh - thanks for the thought, but it's not like you couldn't have waited until tomorrow night to recharge me." Ungrateful git.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:54 PM on January 5
The 21st century will give us the endless stream of flatulence surreptitiously recorded by these billions of personal tracking devices
ASS
Best screenplay!
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:11 AM on January 7
ASS
Best screenplay!
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:11 AM on January 7
I find it somewhat amusing how transparent linear the ads that I do see are obviously from broad interpretation of pretty specific searches. "Ah, he searched for German paddle restaurant; he must be interested in boat paddles and travel to Germany".
This is because of the separation of the advertising platform from the advertiser. It's actually the buyer of the ad placement that hopes to sell you their other thing based on the thing you did.
The advertising platform sells them a purported attempt at getting the attention of some number of individuals with a hopefully compatible profile, in the aggregate.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:19 AM on January 7
This is because of the separation of the advertising platform from the advertiser. It's actually the buyer of the ad placement that hopes to sell you their other thing based on the thing you did.
The advertising platform sells them a purported attempt at getting the attention of some number of individuals with a hopefully compatible profile, in the aggregate.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:19 AM on January 7
The idea that mobile devices are always listening to us has been around for years and this was just a convenient place to try to cash in. Nothing proven, nothing admitted. Some people may get $20, laywers get a payday. Rinse, repeat.
It was more fun being an Apple fan when they were the underdog.
posted by pmbuko at 5:49 PM on January 7
It was more fun being an Apple fan when they were the underdog.
posted by pmbuko at 5:49 PM on January 7
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posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:48 AM on January 4 [12 favorites]