this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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Privacy
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The thing I find so funny about all of this is that people would rather believe that their phone is spying on them with the Mic that there is no proof of. Then what is more likely the truth you are not as unique as you think you are and they have so much data on you they have no reason to spy on what you say because they know you better then you know yourself.
But yes it is easier for people to believe the mic is spying on them because thy can't or won't accept the more likely option.
Found the sane comment. What we know for sure is that a combination of browser fingerprinting, de-anonymization (you can take anonymized hashed emails and compare them to hashes of known emails), and the third party broker marketplace that they can predict things with disturbing specificity like pregnancy, and obesity, to hidden patterns you might not even realize are in the data.
Plus there's enough statistically informed shots in the dark that drive specific ads that, sometimes, they strike with perfect resonance. That's enough to explain uncanny similarity. And the microphone listening thing is still plausible, but without stone cold proof it's just a guess, and it overestimates how much data they need to be able to track you and sell you shit.
I don't think it's about people lying to themselves, it's just some of the stuff it predicts seems oddly specific they don't even consider it.
Apparently the lie I craft for myself is so good it went to medical school because I've been getting spam addressed to Dr Me asking about my oncology clinic for years