Are there gremlins in my computer?

[kevlray]

I know that they can track me and for the most part I leave a pretty boring life. "I've miles And miles Of files Pretty files of your forefather's fruit..."(Moody Blues, In the Beginning-Lovely to See You, 1969)

 

[kevlray]

The information capture started before I was born. Just made a lot easier with the technology we have now.

 

[Eljefegeneo]

OK, latest scary update. I've been listening to an audio book titled "Forget The Alamo", a revealing history of Texas' holy shrine. Today on Google news on my phone, two stories about the Alamo. What was even scarier was a story about Phil Collin. He is mentioned prominently in the book as he was a big Alamo buff and artifact collector.

 

[Galaxiom]

The tracking goes way beyond what you do on your own devices. A few examples off the top of my head from my life. There are many more similar that I can't remember.

My grand daughter was turning four and had a party at the beach. While lighting the candles I told my daughter-in-law about the old Two Ronnies Four Candles joke. That night the Four Candles video came up on my Facebook feed. I didn't even have my phone with me at the party.

One evening I sat down at my computer eating the end of a tub of yogurt. Immediately up came an add for the exact same brand of yogurt.

A couple of years ago, my work Christmas party was a Saturday night variety stage show that included a unicyclist. (I am also a unicyclist.) He picked a coworker from the audience and idled his unicycle while she sat on his shoulders. Monday morning she appears in my Facebook friend suggestions. I didn't have my phone with me at the Christmas Party.

Two nights ago my wife was watching a recorded show about Steve Tyler of Aerosnith. Exactly the same time as the word Aerosmith was first said on the television, Aerosmith appeared in my Facebook feed.

I walked very briefly into a surf wear shop one Saturday morning thinking about buying some shorts but didn't buy any. That night I had ads for surf shorts.

Don't worry about it. Just assume they know more about what you are thinking than you do.

 

[Eljefegeneo]

Still more? I went to Whole Foods yesterday to buy a few things but of course left my phone in my car. When I got to the check out stand I told the checker that I forgot my phone in my car and did I need to get it. They usually tell me no,, but bring it next time. Once I had to go to customer service to check out when I returned wit my phone with its stupid app. This time I was told I needed my phone so trudging in the heat to my car I retrieved it and went to the check-out stand. The checker said to go to customer service. I did and the employee said it was all taken care of since they use facial recognition. I asked him if he was kidding and he said with a deadpan stare, no.

I've tried to look this up on the Internet but there is nothing saying that Whole Foods (Amazon) uses facial recognition.

So, was this a big put on by the employee or?

I'm starting to get paranoid. And don't like it.

 

[Isaac]

Still more? I went to Whole Foods yesterday to buy a few things but of course left my phone in my car. When I got to the check out stand I told the checker that I forgot my phone in my car and did I need to get it. They usually tell me no,, but bring it next time. Once I had to go to customer service to check out when I returned wit my phone with its stupid app. This time I was told I needed my phone so trudging in the heat to my car I retrieved it and went to the check-out stand. The checker said to go to customer service. I did and the employee said it was all taken care of since they use facial recognition. I asked him if he was kidding and he said with a deadpan stare, no.

I've tried to look this up on the Internet but there is nothing saying that Whole Foods (Amazon) uses facial recognition.

So, was this a big put on by the employee or?

I'm starting to get paranoid. And don't like it.

Weird

 

[Isaac]

Still more? I went to Whole Foods yesterday to buy a few things but of course left my phone in my car. When I got to the check out stand I told the checker that I forgot my phone in my car and did I need to get it. They usually tell me no,, but bring it next time. Once I had to go to customer service to check out when I returned wit my phone with its stupid app. This time I was told I needed my phone so trudging in the heat to my car I retrieved it and went to the check-out stand. The checker said to go to customer service. I did and the employee said it was all taken care of since they use facial recognition. I asked him if he was kidding and he said with a deadpan stare, no.

I've tried to look this up on the Internet but there is nothing saying that Whole Foods (Amazon) uses facial recognition.

So, was this a big put on by the employee or?

I'm starting to get paranoid. And don't like it.

According to google they might use something based on your palm and maybe that's what he meant.

I have no idea as I wouldn't dream of shopping at that silly place where everything costs 12 times as much as it ought but is a badge of prestige to be seen walking out of.

 

[Eljefegeneo]

I know I am kicking this thing to death, but the other day my wife told me that she and our daughter-in-law were talking about something person to person in the same room, although her phone was on. Then she went on Facebook (yes the evil one)later on and lo and behold an ad came up for what they were discussing. My wife swears she didn't look up the item they were discussing. Am I getting more paranoid?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

All of the above is why my wife and I turn off our cell phones when we are at home, don't have an "audio assistant" like Alexa, disable Cortana from our phones, and use a type of home phone that isn't smart enough to record anything. Our PCs have neither cameras nor microphones. I'm not technologically impaired. I just don't share everything all of the time.

 

[CJ_London]

We stopped using Alexa a while ago. The final straw was when my wife and I had been talking about the amount of dog poo our previous dog had made in the back garden (he was old and did not have any real control of his bowels any more).

I never realised that Amazon sold dog poo.......

 

[Cotswold]

I'd never buy or use anything like Alexa.
On each of my devices I have a different name and email address. I do not tell a device what my main phone number is. If a phone is needed for recovery, then I have a 2G Phone PAYG which is normally off I can use and is registered to a different name. If needed I'll switch it on, get the code and switch it off. I never link two devices via an email address because Google do.

I do not use the same anti-virus on each device. You allow anti-virus companies to check everything you do when you agree to their T&Cs. From the programs you use, sites you visit and you also allow them to read and download anything they choose, including emails and passwords. Maybe even the Access program you are working on! Antivirus know as much as anyone exactly what you do from switch on to switch off, and they sell it to whoever they choose. They maintain the virus fear to steal your data.
I do not use a free email address. I use a secure and paid for email, no adverts, no data sold, that always sends encrypted emails. I refuse to fill in CAPTCHA which is a spy and download software.

Problems coming are new devices in the home, TVs fridges etc. How do we turn off that stuff? In the UK we have Freeview and now if you want to see something from last week you need to register. So I registered with each using a different name, DOB, Postcode and email. Then deleted the email addresses. Never yet had any spam from a deleted email address.

'They' want to get rid of telephone landlines and force everyone to use a smartphone. That way every conversation, text etc and where you made it will be stored, maybe for ever. There is so much computing power being used on these intrusions on privacy that if they were closed down global warming wouldn't be a problem any more. 'They' also want to see the end of cash for obvious reasons. Already MasterCard are selling your transaction data.

Paranoid is maybe an explanation, but those beggars make you paranoid. It's a game, just don't make it easy for 'em.