New iPhone And Android Alert—Is Your Smartphone Listening?

It’s a question asked by Apple iPhone and Google Android users around the world: Is your smartphone listening to you?

It’s hardly surprising that people are wondering about the eavesdropping capabilities of their iPhone or Android device. After all, there are countless times people have reported having a conversation about a certain product and then seen an advert for that exact same item straight afterwards.

And many people believe their smartphone is spying on them, according a new study by comparison site Compare and Recycle. One in three people believe their iPhone or Android device can — and is — listening, according to the study.

“One of the main ways our phones listen to us is through voice assistant software embedded into many modern devices, including Siri or Google Assistant,” experts at Compare and Recycle wrote. “To understand our voices and requests, they need to listen to us at length to be as accurate as possible. This often means they will listen to our conversations, even when we don’t realise it.”

In addition, some apps will “hide sneaky clauses in their terms and conditions that allow them access to your mobile microphone and, as a result, the conversations you have while using the app”. This information could then be sold to third parties to be used to advertise products to you more accurately, Compare and Recycle said.

To protect your privacy, always check the T&Cs for hidden clauses before you press accept, the experts said.

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Apple Hits Back At Siri Claims

Claims that the Siri voice assistant is listening to private conversations is something that worries Apple. The iPhone maker published a statement on its website on Jan. 8 to hit back at claims that Siri is listening to conversations.

“Apple has never used Siri data to build marketing profiles, never made it available for advertising, and never sold it to anyone for any purpose,” Apple wrote. “We are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private, and will continue to do so.”

It comes after the iPhone maker agreed to payout in a lawsuit alleging Siri is eavesdropping on Apple users. By paying out, Apple is not admitting any wrongdoing, but the iPhone maker wants to save on costly litigation fees.

In 2019, Apple made some changes to privacy settings and stopped using external contractors. It had emerged that they were sometimes transcribing private Siri recordings, when the voice assistant was activated in error.

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Can Your iPhone Or Android Smartphone Listen To You?

The technology is available to listen to users, but in most markets, it would in breach of strict data privacy regulations to do so without consent.

Yet your iPhone or Android device doesn’t need to listen — it has so much data about you anyway. “The truth is, they now don’t need to listen to our conversations to know our habits, hobbies and life choices,” says Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at ESET. “Their algorithms are able to determine so much about us before even a word is spoken.”

By analyzing your data, tech giants such as Apple and Google would know if you were single, in a job, have children, a pet, own a car, your style of clothing, your hobbies, your future interests and more, says Moore. “They are even able to make a well-informed guess as to what your next purchase will be before you have even given it much thought. Data is a currency in its own right and worth billions when it is sold to advertisers. We need to limit the data we freely give away.”

If you are still worried, you can turn the mic off per app, Moore advises. “But it won’t change much.”

Compare and Recycle experts also advises you disable your mobile’s microphone: “Go to your settings and remove access to your microphone on any apps where your voice isn’t required,” they said.

In addition, you can boost your privacy by turning off your phone’s voice assistant, keeping your iPhone software up to date — currently iOS 18.2.1 — and use antivirus software on your device.

It’s not surprising that people are concerned their iPhone or Android device could be listening — and there are other settings you can enable to lock the voice assistants down. However, privacy on your device goes much deeper than that — such as what you enter into Google or the data you share on Facebook or Instagram without even knowing.