By Paul Mc Adam

IT was after having dinner with some friends at OMG on Sheriff Street that I first became suspicious.

We had settled into our seats, phones were placed on the table (as usual) and a waitress promptly attended to our table, when I noticed one of my friends struggling to read the menu without glasses. I asked, “Why aren’t you wearing glasses”? She replied, “On my salary, I’m still trying to save up enough. Have you seen the prices for glasses now?” I nodded in agreement and told her to check online. I even told her to check local opticians to save on her purchase. Another friend chimed in, saying, “Speaking about eyeglasses, I need to replace my suspension struts, because they’re beginning to knock.” Another friend said he should replace the entire car, since the entire body was knocking and was jiggly.

It was the usual banter among friends but one which, in fact, turned into something altogether more unsettling, making me think long and hard about what constitutes our privacy.

The next day, I used my cellphone to scroll through my Yahoo account and noticed adverts for LASIK laser eye surgery and a selection of spectacles. When I booted up my desktop computer, lo and behold, on the side of the screen popped up advertisements for more glasses, vehicle shocks and suspension parts…

Was this a coincidence? Is it possible that our phones were somehow eavesdropping on our conversation and that key phrases are being logged and used to send us targeted adverts? The implications, if true, are chilling. We are obsessed with our cellphones. We take them to our most personal spaces including our bedrooms, dinner tables, meetings, vehicles and bathrooms. It stands to reason that they are privy to our most intimate conversations.

But what I discovered over several days of checks and investigations highlighted a frightening new chapter in our relationship with these devices. It is obvious that the microphones on our phones are indeed listening to our everyday lives.

We do not even have to be using our phones to make a call for them to eavesdrop. Unless the microphone is disabled, they appear to be able to pick up words and phrases and translate them into related adverts, which then appear in apps such as Instagram and Facebook, as well as on your laptop and desktop computers.

After enquiries, I was told that Facebook, which owns Instagram and WhatsApp, “completely denies using microphones to eavesdrop on conversations, or to tailor adverts.” According to information disclosed during recent United State Senate hearing over privacy and information-sharing concerns, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, for example, insisted that the company shows only adverts based on users’ interests and information voluntarily uploaded….Oh really? I think not.

I carry my Samsung S8, like most persons, at all times except when bathing. It is almost always switched on and close enough to me for it to be able to hear any conversations if the speaker is activated.

It was just a few weeks ago that my sister reminded me via text and later a follow-up call, that Marianne’s School had their first blood drive for the year. The next day, I woke up to advertisements from medical centres offering free blood tests, etc. Later that day, I spoke with Neilon Dais of the television programme, ‘Car Culture.’ Within an hour of that conversation, advertisements popped up on my desktop computer for car detailing products!

To be absolutely sure that my cellphone was eavesdropping, I left it on my desk as I spoke aloud about taking a holiday somewhere in the Caribbean. The following day, my desktop was full of holiday offers, including websites for cheap fares and low-end bed and breakfast accommodations (I’m frugal like that).

According to Whatsapp (owned by Facebook) messages are encrypted and even they can’t tell you what you’ve been sending.

I did some research and discovered that an American woman, in 2017, Jen Lewis, posted a picture of herself on Twitter wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans. She was subsequently targeted on Facebook by a lingerie company, which sent her an ad of a model wearing an almost identical outfit. She wrote in a post to her page: ‘Uh, Facebook just served me a bra ad where a woman is wearing the outfit that I’m currently wearing.’ It went viral, with 21,400 ‘likes’ from people around the world. Facebook insisted it was coincidence, but thousands of people were unconvinced, suggesting that the woman’s phone or laptop camera was targeted with image-recognition software.

The issue of social-media tech companies harvesting personal data is now the new normal. Once you use a search engine or visit certain websites, you will be targeted by related adverts in their internet browser. A good friend at the one of the local telephone companies informed me that, “Every time you download an app and give it permission to access personal information, whether it be photographs, contacts or microphone, you will be

targeted.” He explained that there is no such thing as a free app and because most persons click yes without reading all of the “fine print,” we technically give permission, so it is not illegal. This “permission”, he added, is given because the microphones on most people’s phones are always left on. The phones are pre-programmed to listen for ‘trigger’ phrases which activate personal assistant apps such as Siri, Bigsby or Alexa.

The warnings about other apps using the same technology without the phone owner’s knowledge are now being highlighted in the media. I discovered that multiple apps sometimes listen in the background all the time, with each being triggered by keywords we hardly bother to read. This information (encrypted, yeah right!) are then passed on to the relevant companies who target you with advertisements. It is thought that app developers create a list of keywords relating to its advertisers or their products.

Apparently, cellphone microphones send conversations through transcription software and instantly turns it from speech to text. If key words or phrases are present, the app triggers adverts to be sent to users. It is believed that companies such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp have all developed algorithms that allow this process to work effectively.

If you’re like myself and not using social media, well there is more than one way to skin a cat! Somehow the tech companies are able to tap into your IP address, which every computer system is encoded as an identifier and targets you, once you switch on.

But if our private lives are being used for advertising, what else is being monitored? My telecommunications source warned that we should think more about what we download on phones and remember that nothing is free. He noted, “There are just different ways of paying.”

Cellphones are not the only devices with microphones or built-in cameras. Our other ‘smart’ household devices – designed to make modern life more efficient – may have a darker side, too.

From Smart TVs and Alexa assistants to baby monitors, fridges and smart meters, reports have shown that such gadgets can record people without their permission. Where does this new invasive technology take us and what are the implications for privacy?! Only time will tell.