TIL my smart speaker was listening to a private talk about a trip and then showed me ads for hotels in that city

I was on the phone with my sister last week, planning a surprise visit to Austin for her birthday. We talked about dates and I mentioned I needed to find a place to stay. I never searched for it online. Two days later, my smart speaker's companion app had a whole list of hotel deals for Austin right on the home screen. It felt like a direct line from my living room to an ad server. I know these devices listen for wake words, but hearing a private conversation turn into targeted ads was a real shock. It made me think about how much data we give away without realizing it. I've since gone into the device settings and turned off a bunch of 'personalization' options. Has anyone else had a creepy moment like this that made you change your smart home settings?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_harper6d ago

Turn off the microphone mute switch on the device itself, not just in the app. I put a piece of black tape over the light on mine so I know it's off. Go into the companion app and delete your voice history, they usually store every command. Check the privacy settings for "human review" and turn that off, or they might have real people listening to clips. Finally, put it on a smart plug so you can cut the power completely when you're having private talks. It's the only way to be sure.

amy_reed796d ago

Did you check if your phone's keyboard app was the one that sold your data? I had a similar thing happen with a brand of cat food I only said out loud, and it turned out my phone's keyboard learned it and sent it to its ad network. The speaker might get blamed but sometimes it's another app on your phone that heard it through its own mic.