Does Quora/Google eavesdrop on conversations?
A couple of weeks ago I visited a hospital and was advised by the doctor to take an ultrasound test. After 1–2 days, I started seeing questions related to “ultrasound” on Quora. Was it a pure coincidence or is there a logical explanation for this?
More information:
1. I use my Google account to sign-in to Quora
2. I haven’t searched on Google about ultrasound.
3. Only context in which I used the term “ultrasound” are as follows:
– In-person conversation with a friend who accompanied me to the hospital
– Bill from the hospital
– In-person conversation with a few friends
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13 Answers
Yes, these are common occurrences. I can be talking about Nova Scotia and it shows up on my computer. I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing. But it COULD be—if they get information about you that they don’t like.
Yes. You can be certain it is going on. You will also begin to see that term on your facebook page. Cookies and trackers are traded and shared between companies unless you try and stop it.
Try an experiment. Mention something you have not considered before. African safari, whale watching… whatever. See how quickly it pops up. Most clever places will wait a day or two before suggesting it. They don’t want to be too obvious.
Well, Google does read your emails so they can better target ads at you, so it stands to reason that they would scour your conversations for the same reason.
Turn your cell phone off while you are at the doctor.
Google does. Apple phones do.
Messenger does for sure. I talked about poison ivy a bunch of times recently and I have FB ads now in my feed for eliminating poison ivy.
@si3tech ”Apple phones do.”
Do you have a link? Apple doesn’t do targeted ads. They’ve pioneered privacy techniques to protect user data. Their business interests mean they make more money by protecting user data, which is opposite of most tech companies that have access to user data.
My guess is the ultrasound bill if it was in a gmail account.
@gorillapaws thanks a lot for the response. I don’t use an iphone. I use an android-OS based phone.
However, do you think literally conversations are “eaves dropped” upon by android-based phones? And if they do, is it legal for them to do so?
@lahirichavali You probably clicked on “agree” in their terms and conditions. It’s probably in their terms and conditions so yes, it’s legal.
My smart phone is an android. I’ve been meaning to go into my carrier and ask if there is some internal microphone that can be disabled.
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