is this still a surprise to anyone here?
Yes.
Not to you or me, but there are tons of people, even here, that are absolutely incredulous towards the idea that its possible.
I'm part of those people. The usual argument is that everybody's phone is listening all the time, without agreeing to permissions or showing the mic notification or anything like that. I've never seen any proof of that. This article is about a bunch of shovelware apps (Pool 3D, Beer pong: Trickshot, Honey Quest etc) that aren't even listed anymore. There's nothing about them skirting permissions or hiding the notification.
People see the headline and assume it's Facebook et al.
Not helpful
Anyone whos said anything outloud and then immediately got an ad should know by now that it isnt some conspiracy, its easily testable by not searching something and just talking about it while having an app open, the more obvious one they track is dms, if I dm someone something (text based not posts) ill get ads or posts related to it.
I keep my phone in a chip bag and only pull it out to LARP the preparation for the assassination Franz Ferdinand in general terms without naming actual places or names.
That's a good way to always keep chips on hand.
No they dont , they dont have to. Far easier to get things other ways.
Yes, but also no. You're underestimating advertisers' greed for data.
It's actually trivial nowadays to build a background service like that.
Which would show up in network traffic , which it doesnt. There is no need for it.
Beer pong
Yeah that sounds like an app user who would be okay with his audio being recorded...
An app where all you end up recording is "Bro! Bro! Bro! Broseeeeph! Let's gooooooo, Bro!"
How can they tell I'm popping?.... Oh....what if I stopped flushing? So is that why some people don't flush? They're trying to be stealthy!
me to my phone right now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
