Have you ever whispered a secret wish for a pair of stiletto heels, only to find your social media feeds flooded with ads for them the next day? Well, Michele, Julee, and you, our dear listeners, are not alone in this tech-savvy world where the line between convenience and privacy is as thin as your smartphone screen. Our latest chat dives into those all-too-familiar privacy concerns, sharing juicy stories of how our supposedly private conversations have a knack for turning into public online spectacles. We'll have you nodding along as we recount times when our candid chats became the unintended fodder for targeted ads.
But it's not just ads that have us raising our eyebrows. Imagine living in a reality where every action, every choice, defines your societal currency – a concept eerily similar to that 'Black Mirror' episode we just can't shake. We crack open the door to discussions about the invasive reach of technology and governmental surveillance, questioning just how much autonomy we truly have. As we prepare for a Vegas birthday bash, we notice even our excitement isn't safe from the prying algorithms eager to tailor our digital world.
Wrapping up our timely tech exploration, we turn our focus to the 'always listening' assistants that have become household staples. From random Siri interjections to Alexa's too-close-for-comfort responses, we reveal the sometimes hilarious, sometimes worrying ways our devices seem to have a mind of their own. And for the iPhone aficionados out there, we're spilling the beans on privacy settings that put you back in the driver's seat of your digital life. Tune in for this eye-opening conversation that promises to sprinkle a dash of humor alongside vital insights, keeping you both entertained and informed!
Have you ever whispered a secret wish for a pair of stiletto heels, only to find your social media feeds flooded with ads for them the next day? Well, Michele, Julee, and you, our dear listeners, are not alone in this tech-savvy world where the line between convenience and privacy is as thin as your smartphone screen. Our latest chat dives into those all-too-familiar privacy concerns, sharing juicy stories of how our supposedly private conversations have a knack for turning into public online spectacles. We'll have you nodding along as we recount times when our candid chats became the unintended fodder for targeted ads.
But it's not just ads that have us raising our eyebrows. Imagine living in a reality where every action, every choice, defines your societal currency – a concept eerily similar to that 'Black Mirror' episode we just can't shake. We crack open the door to discussions about the invasive reach of technology and governmental surveillance, questioning just how much autonomy we truly have. As we prepare for a Vegas birthday bash, we notice even our excitement isn't safe from the prying algorithms eager to tailor our digital world.
Wrapping up our timely tech exploration, we turn our focus to the 'always listening' assistants that have become household staples. From random Siri interjections to Alexa's too-close-for-comfort responses, we reveal the sometimes hilarious, sometimes worrying ways our devices seem to have a mind of their own. And for the iPhone aficionados out there, we're spilling the beans on privacy settings that put you back in the driver's seat of your digital life. Tune in for this eye-opening conversation that promises to sprinkle a dash of humor alongside vital insights, keeping you both entertained and informed!
Hey everybody. This is Michelle and this is Julie. Welcome to a blonde, a brunette and a mic podcast. What is our podcast all about, you ask?
Speaker 2:Well, we're 250 something.
Speaker 1:Women with life experience and oh bloody to say, which is exactly what we're gonna do right now.
Speaker 2:So let's just dive in Deep dive, deep, deep dive. I almost said deep throat. Dive, god, where is my mind been lately?
Speaker 1:I mean I did get questions about the pearl necklace from that one episode, so just you know we are going to be heading to Vegas, so we're talking about pearl necklaces.
Speaker 2:We're talking about deep dives.
Speaker 1:Oh goodness.
Speaker 2:I promise we're going to keep it. So PG when we're there. Okay, maybe PG-13.
Speaker 1:Do you ever notice if you have had a conversation with somebody? We are just diving right in conversation with somebody about whatever, anything, and the next thing you know, like within a short period of time, you're on your phone and there's either of time you're on your phone and there's either ads, or, if you're on Instagram, there's something in the algorithm that brings up what you just got done talking about five minutes ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I have noticed that and I was thinking. Well, first of all, I was thinking, you know, when you're on your computer and I, like I can't remember, for example, something I'm looking for, like I was looking for these stiletto heels that had the thing you know like a thong thing that go in between your toe.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I saw the perfect pair and I think it was Instagram, maybe Facebook. It was perfect. They're not sold in regular stores, but I could not, for the life of me, remember the name of it, so I just, I just just put it in the search bar and now I'm getting all this shit, and not even the shoes that I want. But I did that on purpose, because I was thinking, okay, maybe my shoes will come up, because I obviously searched like something like that before and you know, so it was coming into my feed.
Speaker 1:And that's different. That is different. We know if you search it, something's going to come up. If you're searching for, to your point, shoes or a certain type of shoe or a brand name of shoe, you're going to get stuff on your feed. It'll be all over the place in front of you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I've noticed it too, with just some of the stuff like I was planning for us for Vegas and now there's all this stuff Vegas. Are we going to Vegas? Well, it's someone's birthday coming up, oh that's right, yeah. I can't imagine. Who.
Speaker 1:Team Taurus. It is that season, team Taurus. Yeah, we're going. We're going for your birthday and let the shenanigans begin.
Speaker 2:They started earlier, already this week. So they have. But I have noticed that and so I I don't know you and I kind of go back and forth a little bit about the conspiracy theories and about. You know what the government's doing and you know, diving into our privacy and things and I always okay. So remember back when 9-11 happened.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, after 9-11, there was the Patriot Act.
Speaker 1:I'm not trying to get political on this. I'm just trying to explain kind of my thought process. I'm not too versed in that, so tell me what I'm going to just enlighten you because with with very high level? I probably do, but tell me what it is well, it basically was the united states.
Speaker 2:There was a law or an act that was passed that allowed the government to dig into people's private information their phone calls, emails, videos, you know? I guess that sort of thing, and it was done purposefully, obviously, so we could identify any terrorist threats against our country. There were also. There was a lot of stuff that was going on then, you know, like the Guantanamo and prisoners being held.
Speaker 1:There's always a reason, though. There's always a reason. Well to give them more access to our privacy.
Speaker 2:Right, but at that time, michelle, think about it we were, for God's sake. I have a family picture and we're all wearing red, white and blue. It's just. It was a very patriotic time. It was a time when we were talking about protecting our country.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:There were. So I mean, we could get into that for days, because the you know, the Islam hate and all that crap started up with that, because there's just a lack of knowledge. But that's not what we're talking about here today. I'm bringing up the Patriot Act because that is, I think, what gave the public license to the government to be able to dig into things under the guise of terrorist activity, which, you know, kind of makes sense to me. I get that part of it and I remember thinking at the time that all that was happening there was a lot of controversy around it because people were very concerned about their privacy being affected and they didn't want anybody watching what they were doing and they didn't want, you know, the government having access to their stuff. And I remember thinking that you're going to crack up. But I remember thinking at the time going what's the big deal?
Speaker 1:I mean, here's the thing, though. Why does it have to be under guys? And I get that we I think that was the original intention. We move forward with technology, so there's more things we can do, obviously, but it just seems to me that by doing that.
Speaker 2:It's kind of Pandora's box in a lot of ways. Exactly, thank you, I was looking for the right term.
Speaker 1:And that's exactly what it is, because it's just like AI, which I know we're not talking about today and we'll do an episode on that but, you know, slowly but surely, they introduce these things when it comes to technology and they are things that initially seem really cool and, you know, very helpful in a lot of different ways, but then, big picture, it goes from one thing to the next, just like having a social credit score. Well, exactly, watch.
Speaker 2:Don't be surprised if that hits us in the next, just like having a social credit score. Well, exactly, watch, don't be surprised if that hits us in the next couple of years. The social credit score.
Speaker 1:You mean kind of like an Uber score, but for your social. They already have it in China. They have it in China right now. You have a social credit score. So like, if you jaywalk, they have this way that they pretty much can see everything that you do. If you jaywalk, it's a negative score on your credit social credit score.
Speaker 2:And it makes it Are you fucking kidding me. I know nothing about this.
Speaker 1:Okay, seriously.
Speaker 2:Yeah, google it. I will, I will Google. I mean, it doesn't surprise me, we're talking about a communist country here.
Speaker 1:I know, I'm just saying that's. It's the things that they do in everyday life that affect it's not like a financial credit score, it's a social credit score and those kinds of things like abiding by rules. Really, I don't even. I'm sure over there they're laws, yeah, and maybe we can do an episode on this because it's it's actually very, quite interesting. Well, there was actually a.
Speaker 2:It was an episode on a show I think it was called Black Mirror where this is exactly what they were talking about. It was like this girl in the show and her social score was affected by kind of like. It's almost like you take the Uber situation and people leave a score, or the Airbnb situation people leave a score If thatbnb situation, people leave a score.
Speaker 2:If that score is, if there's a detrimental score or a detrimental comment or something like that, the score goes down. And in this, in this scenario, this woman was not getting jobs because yes, and that's.
Speaker 1:That's what happens. Yeah, and they make it so that you can't, you don't have access to your money. There's, there's all kinds of things, and it makes everybody robotic.
Speaker 2:And I'm not-. I mean, this is the same country that tells you how many kids you can have. Yeah, so, okay. So, going back for just a moment, let me finish that thought. When that all happened, I was thinking, well, what's the big deal?
Speaker 2:If you don't have anything to hide, why do you care? This is my thought process back then. Now, don't have anything to hide, why do you care? This is my thought process back then. Now I look at it and I'm kind of like I still don't have anything to hide, but it's annoying to me that people think that they can just get in my business.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's the difference, I think, maybe having more knowledge about things and having a better understanding about things. Where I think that the tug and pull is is that when does that transition to having control over what's happening? Because a lot of the things we're talking about here are all done behind the scenes or it's a very big picture. We're talking government, whatever, but they can drive data, they can drive propaganda, they can drive all kinds of things to your phone, to your computer, whatever the case may be, and try to get your thought process going in a different direction.
Speaker 1:Drive all kinds of things to your phone, to your computer, whatever the case may be, and try to get your thought process going in a different direction. Well, it's the new age of like phone tapping, if you will. I mean the agencies, the FBI, all the bureaus, all the government people are going to do what they're going to do, but they've been doing it all along.
Speaker 1:This is what I'm saying. They're going to do what they're going to do. However, they're going to do it, Like I said, like they used to old school wiretap a phone or whatever, but that's when they are onto something and there's that purpose behind it. This now is very general and, you know, I suppose the parameters are not really clear. The parameters aren't clear, the lines are blurred.
Speaker 2:Well, what bothers me too is when you see, like, for example, when our phones get an update, you have to kind of wonder what those updates are about. Or you actually your phone? When you get your phone, it's automatically set to the settings that allow that information to be tracked?
Speaker 1:Yes, and you have to physically go in and turn it off and a lot of times I know I'm like this, I don't know half the thing, the things that even get updated, and then I'll see somebody else talking on Instagram or whatever. Did you know that on the latest update and they you know? They'll tell you what it is. And, sure enough, there's things that are automatically in the on setting when your phone gets updated and they don't tell you, I suppose, if you went and looked and said what does this particular iOS update?
Speaker 2:But you don't even know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's very vague. I mean I read what the this, that and the other and it does. It says all these things and it's like it's big so.
Speaker 2:so nothing can be. It's not black and white I think most people like myself.
Speaker 1:They think, oh, sometimes I'll put updates off, because I just I have a 12. I'm not one that gets you know the new, latest and greatest every time, so I feel like it's going to bog my phone down if I allow all the updates.
Speaker 2:Well, if you don't, then they just incessantly are bothering you About it, yeah. And then you do the update and then it'll slow your battery and make your battery go faster, there's just no control.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean. Well, I mean we do have a choice.
Speaker 2:I suppose we have a choice not to use a phone. Well, do we Well?
Speaker 1:I was brother-in-law the other day. We're going. There's a whole lot of you know aspects to this, but it's triggering all these thoughts. Essentially, he's an avid hunter and we were talking about this. You can't it's not like it used to be, where you know you would go hunting and you would go and get your license. You would have it, you'd carry it with you, have all the documentation. It's all phone-based now you have to have and I don't know all the details.
Speaker 2:You mean you're doing I'm not a hunter.
Speaker 1:It's like you apply online or something it's just like your papers or whatever your documentation for your licensing to be able to hunt. You've got it all on your phone and you have to report when you, I suppose, kill an animal or do all the things.
Speaker 2:Couldn't you have it on your phone? And you have to report when you, I suppose, kill an animal or do all the things. Couldn't you like have it on your computer? I?
Speaker 1:mean what, if you have a flip phone, you have to have it with you. That's what I'm saying. I'm like so pretty much you you have to yeah, you're required to do all that and and think about tickets. For I went to the mariners game the other day, my poor daughter-in-law and my son just trying to get everything manipulated through ticket master so you could access the freaking tickets. Did they put?
Speaker 2:it in their wallet it was a chore.
Speaker 1:It they just it's. It's just not easy. Yeah, and back to google and our phones and updates, and all of that While our phones aren't listening to all of our conversations. Obviously, I think it's likely that it's passively listening for keywords and trigger phrases that we may use in conversations, and I think a lot of that they'll say is designed for a better user experience.
Speaker 2:Well, I think it has to do with, like, picking up on algorithms too, because I imagine things like like Alexa, she's my friend, right.
Speaker 1:I love my.
Speaker 2:Alexa, but I only pretty much play music. And then of course, the random update that I have no idea how it got there for the hockey season is on there and I just tell her to be quiet. But to your point, it's like I could ask anything on there and get some sort of answer or directed to something, but then there's got to be a way that that information is being kept. So there is, so there's patterns, like you know, that that Alexa knows who my top artists are.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because I play, you know some of the same ones like like a little bit yeah.
Speaker 2:I know I'm weird that way, but anyway I do that. So you know that things are coming up. Well, okay, I had Alexa playing Teddy swims. The next thing you know, I've got Teddy swims coming up on my Instagram as a potential to follow. It's all connected. Well, I hadn't even looked up Teddy Swims on there. Yeah, I had liked a video. That had been when he was singing one of my favorite songs with Kelly Clarkson and I had liked it or something. And then it's on my.
Speaker 1:So I don't know if it's coming from there or if it's coming from Alexa or the fact that I've been searching to see where his concerts are, because these devices have voice assistance and a lot of these apps need for your microphone to be on for that. It can always be. It's always recording, right. Potentially, I think that it is our conversations and really phone calls.
Speaker 2:Well, that's the other thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and companies. But where is it recording? Is it like these?
Speaker 2:massive servers that you know Verizon has, or I mean, where is all this information going?
Speaker 1:Companies can record private information things that you are saying in and around your phone. Case in point example do you remember a couple weeks ago? I don't remember what we were talking about, but we were literally standing in your kitchen and I wish I could remember what we were talking about.
Speaker 2:And it came up, whatever what.
Speaker 1:I remember this because it came up like five minutes later and you're like, you're not going to believe that I went downstairs after we were done talking and literally as I started scrolling on my phone whatever it was literally same words that were used was right there in front of my face. I had to march right back up the stairs and say look at this, because it was, and I'm like oh, Shelly, I know, I know. And the other day at work I'll just share another example like that I got to work was telling a co-er about a movie that I'd watched on Netflix and it's called what is that movie?
Speaker 2:Anne Hathaway and the Idea of Us or whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the Idea of Us and some the Idea of you, some chick flick. Anyways, I didn't know anything about it. I turned on Netflix and I thought I'm going to watch a movie, and I saw it right there in front of my face, and so I looked at it. Yeah, so I decided to watch it.
Speaker 2:So I watched it because it's a cougar movie. Let's just be real. It kind of is right, it's awesome, it's a total cougar movie.
Speaker 1:So I'm telling my coworker, my boss, actually it's like what'd you do this weekend? I watched a movie on Netflix and he immediately said don't tell me you watched that, cause I started I couldn't remember the name of it. So I started telling him about it and who was in it. And he was like don't tell me you watched that movie. And I said how do you know what I'm talking about? He's like it's, it's the first thing you see when you pull up Netflix. It's all over the place Blah, blah, blah. He's talking about his wife's talking about this that and the other thing right.
Speaker 1:So we're talking about the movie when were you. At work, sitting at my desk, you were at your desk Sitting at my desk. He's, you know, standing next to the cubicle. We're chatting, so, and then we get on with our day. On your computer, when you bring up Edge, it's like all the news ads, all the latest, greatest news things, whatever that are on there. So what do you think is right, front and center? As soon as I opened my Microsoft Edge, Do you think it was?
Speaker 1:because it's such a popular movie. I had never even heard of the movie prior to that weekend.
Speaker 2:And now, all of a sudden, it's showing up and now, all of a sudden, it's right there.
Speaker 1:It's not like it just came out, no, it is newer. Yeah, he knew all about it. I hadn't even heard about it. I hardly ever go on TV, so literally 15 minutes after having conversation, I'm pulling up Microsoft Edge and it's the first ad that I see in front of my face about this movie.
Speaker 1:The idea of you, right face about this movie, the idea of you, right. So I'm like that is really strange. So I know I asked him. I was like his, does my computer? Because we have conversations about this sometimes I'm like does my computer listen to me what we're saying? Like is it?
Speaker 2:and he was like your microphone's on and it is your microphone is on, and it's Microsoft and it's all the things well, just like right now, we're sitting here at the table and my computer's open because we used it. So my camera's on or was not on, but my camera's right there and I know my audio is probably on because we've used it.
Speaker 1:I haven't turned it off.
Speaker 2:I don't think so Someone could actually hack in and be watching us right now. So I've heard people take a piece of tape and put it over. That, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just think there's a lot of your. Tv too, and, honestly, a lot of the information I was looking at was on Google, so it's not like they. They don't put it right in front of you and say what I was just talking about voice assistance and apps needing your microphone on recording conversations and calls as well. I mean that was right on Google.
Speaker 2:You know, kind of, as we're talking about this, I think people are using that as a way to scam people too. Absolutely Well, it and I. This came, it came up. That's why I'm saying this Of course, I forward everything to Zoe. Is this a scam? She's always like, yes, this is a scam, you know, but I got this email and you can always. It was like some funky email address or something, but it was saying I've been watching you on your TV and all of the pornography that you've been watching, and I know you don't want everybody to know that you're watching pornography.
Speaker 2:So, you need to pay me $2,000 by X. This just happened a few days ago. You're kidding me? Yeah, and I haven't even watched any pornography, I'm just like so my, I have it side note side noise. I really I really haven't, I mean yeah, so that's crazy, but so it makes me kind of wonder. It's like they know that this is technology that's out there and they're just like randomly sending these messages.
Speaker 1:They know that like nine out of every ten people watch pornography.
Speaker 2:Well, it's like I don't know if more women do than men, but I mean, anyway, that's what I'm saying, it's like I got it in. Know if more women do than men, but I mean, anyway, that's what I'm saying, it's like I got it in my email.
Speaker 1:I'm sure get money from doing that.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's like pay $2,000 by blah, blah, blah, blah, blah or we will release this video, whatever video of you watching pornography and God only knows what you're doing. You know, kind of a thing, crazy. Yeah, I was going to respond, but then I probably would start a virus.
Speaker 1:No, you don't click on anything. I didn't Don't do any of that, because I'm like bring it on, brother.
Speaker 2:I know, yeah, that's what I want to say, but I didn't Because, just in case you know, there's a virus or something that's crazy yeah.
Speaker 1:Wow, yeah, there's a lot of scams out there too are using that.
Speaker 2:I mean just like they do. Probably it doesn't have to do necessarily with your computer talking to you, but you know, like with elderly people and stuff, they scam them in the same way. They call and say, oh, I'm so-and-so, your grandson, this just this happened to my mom. Did it really yeah.
Speaker 1:That did happen to my. It happened to my mom, parents, quite some time ago, your grandson in England, blah, blah, blah. They didn't fall for it, nothing happened. But just recently my mom same thing she had gotten an email made a phone call because she wasn't quite sure about what they were saying in it and had her on the phone for two hours.
Speaker 2:Wow, unfortunately she was actually talking to someone. Yeah, oh, wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she was talking to somebody. Fortunately, I should say, nothing happened, because as soon as she hung up she called my sister, you know. They hopped on everything right away and were able to to stop anything from happening. But yeah, like really nice people, you know, and I hate that they prey on the elderly like that especially elderly like that especially Well, so I guess what I'm saying is it's not just the government, that's utilizing a lot of technology.
Speaker 2:It's you know, you've got your Google algorithms. Facebook I mean meta is like in a world of trouble because of the taking all of that information and being able to use it to benefit them and you know all the advertising and I know that there's been lawsuits and everything that have been going on out there, but nobody really talks about this kind of stuff too much, or maybe it's because we're we become kind of sensitized.
Speaker 2:Yeah, desensitized, that's what I was saying Because I mean, honestly, it's like we've talked about this many times and I'm kind of like, well, I guess if somebody wants to listen to my crap, it's like they must really have nothing. I have nothing.
Speaker 1:Super exciting that anybody is going to be like oh, that's juicy, but see the product companies and things like that, to your point, that you said earlier, this is where they're able to, you know, make, make their money and these devices phones, alexas, all the things that apps themselves. You know, when asking the question, are they always listening to you? In short, it said yes, and I'm talking about the information that I found.
Speaker 2:When you say they, who are you referring to? The apps?
Speaker 1:the devices your phone.
Speaker 2:Have you seen that on your apps too? Like where it says I'm trying to think of, oh, like I've been using the GPS thing a lot and it says allow the app to track when you're not using it. Yeah, hell to the no. Yeah, I always put no. Or it's like allow when you're using it because yeah, and.
Speaker 1:I always allow that so do I, yeah, but, but even I think that should be an option. Hell to the no yeah, well it it.
Speaker 2:It comes up as an option.
Speaker 1:I guess is what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:But there's probably a lot of them out there that don't even come up with an option. You just it, just does it.
Speaker 1:We don't even know it does it and that kind of was an update at one point. That was quite some time ago, but I remember that it was all of a sudden asking every when you were going into an app for the first time. After this update it would. It was asking that question. I'm like why is it asking me?
Speaker 2:this is so weird and I think a lot of people probably just hit yes because they were just trying to move on with it, but I still think it's like they create these ads and things. So if it's almost so relentless that you say yes, just to make it go away, just to get on with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I and I guess I don't invest a ton of time and brush that stuff off. Yeah, and maybe that's not such a good idea.
Speaker 1:I mean, and what I was saying is, these apps and devices are designed to always be active. Like I said, those keywords, they call them wake words program to recognize those so that they can carry out the voice commands that we have. So that's why, like the hey, google or Alexa- or hey Siri all those things are called wake. My phone just came on.
Speaker 2:Hi Siri, how are you? Yeah, wake words.
Speaker 1:I mean case in point. It is always listening.
Speaker 2:Well.
Speaker 1:That's you. Just those keywords are what wakes it, and then it's ready to go.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Ready to do its deal um well she comes in handy for me because I use her a lot you know what else it said which I thought was interesting about google?
Speaker 1:it's not a search company anymore. What is it? They're a tracking company.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, that I can totally see they're keeping. I mean, they keep track of all our stuff, what you're shopping for. You know when you're shopping, where you're shopping what you're watching.
Speaker 1:All the data points allow Google to build a profile about you based on what it's hearing.
Speaker 2:But it's not stuff that's being done by human beings. It's stuff that human beings have created software that does this, but the human beings are using the data. No, I'm just saying it's like human beings created the software. And then I'm kind of envisioning that, like all this, data from our phones is getting stored in some massive bank, somewhere virtual banks, I don't know clouds. But I mean that's a lot of data if you think about how many people are out there.
Speaker 1:My friend Haleen when I was living with her. She would do. She would pick up my phone and she would. She would be like hey, siri, show me what the biggest dildo looks like. She would, she would like, like, purposely say all of these really ridiculous things, knowing that my phone then would start like research on the shoes. Yeah, Start picking that up. She would just do it to be a little snot.
Speaker 2:But yeah, it worked.
Speaker 1:Yeah, All of a sudden.
Speaker 2:Michelle's got her phone and she's scrolling through and she's got all the big dildos there to choose from.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean they say in some ways, Google almost knows you better than you know yourself, when you think of the with the searches and the tracking and the voice commands and all the things that it does build a profile Well, and all of these things these things have all been put in place for our convenience, and so we use them, not necessarily with the bigger picture understanding of what they entail.
Speaker 2:You know and so it comes back to we're just normal folk, right? We're not you know people that are collecting information about terrorist groups or planning horrible things or doing stuff like that. So none of our data is stuff that people would maybe want, but at the same time it's for other reasons.
Speaker 1:At the same time, though, I suppose there's key who knows how different agencies use that data and if there are keywords picked up in conversations in a room that has Alexa and they start diving in a little deep, if you're having, of course, people that do this, aren't gonna have an Alexa in the room but if you're having this little group meeting or whatever, on conspiracy, whatever and planning to do whatever, some of those things and I'm sure there's key words in there that Alexa would pick up on which might cause whatever in a local government agency or something to flag something to start listening more into that.
Speaker 1:Like I said, people that have those kinds of meetings aren't going to have an Alexa in their room, but I'm sure it's used in that way at times.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, you know, we have our short-term rentals and I noticed one down in the peninsula a couple of times when I had been down there. The people that had been staying unplugged it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they just didn't want to put it away.
Speaker 1:Well, and if you have, you can have multiple Lexus.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So and within the same app, and you can listen, like you can listen to something going on in the room with another. I've done it before.
Speaker 2:Yes, with your Alexa I used to.
Speaker 1:I used to work in a situation that I can't talk a lot about, but she was a CIA operative. No but there were Alexas that we utilized within Realm, and I remember one time there was an Alexa and it was actually at a whole other residence and we could hear the person talking. So was the person talking?
Speaker 2:like on the phone or to another person.
Speaker 1:I don't remember, but we could hear and we were sitting there thinking they don't know that we could hear them right now, and so then she started talking and saying hey, so-and-so this blah, blah, blah, so that they would know that we were there and that we were listening.
Speaker 2:And they could hear.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:So it can be utilized in that way. So if you think about that, just in a normal setting, you know, there are those other people that can tap in like that, so very easily once in a while I see on TikTok which may get banned.
Speaker 2:TikTok or Instagram. You know this is how you turn off the phone being listened to, so are you going to share that? Yeah, and this is only for iPhones, right?
Speaker 1:This is for iPhones and I can all share a screen view of this. Okay, in a post later.
Speaker 2:And maybe you can do it. For what are the other kind of phones?
Speaker 1:I can find I can figure it out.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can figure it out and do that as well, but for an iPhone, you're going to want to tap security and go into privacy and then permission manager and then tap on the microphone there and you're going to look, because it'll show all the apps that utilize the microphone access and it's in there that you can turn the microphones off or on or leave them on.
Speaker 2:So Okay, so security, privacy, permission manager, microphone, yep.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then it'll show all the apps that utilize the microphone and they're automatically turned on. They're automatically turned on, always, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, that's good to know. I'm going to do that right now when we get off the thing. Well, michelle, I know we have nothing really horrible to hide, but I guess that there are people that do, and so you have to kind of balance out the negative and the positive and determine are the rights of the human race or the citizens, let's just say, in the United States, are they more? I don't know the answer to this.
Speaker 1:This is more of a rhetorical question.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Are they more or less important than the potential safety of our country? Because that's basically why it started to begin with.
Speaker 1:I feel like our country used to be a lot more safe before any of this bullshit was out there. Okay, honestly, if you think about it, I think the country felt a lot safer. I think there were years ago.
Speaker 2:I think there were needs that came about and a lot of it was this is my personal opinion but more emotionally driven needs after the horrific attack on our country right. Back, you know, way back in the beginning of the millennium, millennial millennia whatever. In 2000,. Whatever, you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2:Beginning of the century. Yeah, but what I think has happened now is that that particular legislation that was put into place, those acts were put into place, have been utilized in other ways, because maybe the language in it was gray enough or vague enough. Yeah, that's all to where now people can just kind of do whatever they want. But I will tell you that my hunch and I have watched a little bit of scandal and other shows. But my hunch.
Speaker 2:Is that all of that shit was happening. Anyway, it was just. It was just all done on the deal, yeah.
Speaker 1:So again here we go. Technology to be able. It's just like when you think about the activities that we did when we were in high school. Think about if there were phones back then oh my god, throw, throw, uh, throw. You know julie's dress stuck in her pantyhose, up on social media after that happened.
Speaker 2:How devastating would that be fucking killed, mary? She would never do that to me.
Speaker 1:You would never do that to me no, I would never do that. If you did, I'd kill you. That to me no, I would never do that. If you did, I'd kill you. I know, but yeah, but to your point, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, at that point I probably, if you think about that fateful night right where we had someone else driving us and getting alcohol for us and everything we probably would have Ubered home. So much done on the down low.
Speaker 1:Everything was on the down low.
Speaker 2:Everything was on the down low we wouldn't have had parents picking us up, we would have taken an Uber home. What else would have been different?
Speaker 1:And that's about it, but if you don't think these devices are listening, really they are.
Speaker 2:They are.
Speaker 1:They are, and if you don't care, fine, you don't have to care. I personally don't have an Alexa in my home. I know there's plenty of other things that are probably listening to me my phone for one, but we don't need more than than what's absolutely necessary, you know.
Speaker 2:I've got Alexa. Yeah, yeah, I just but just to play music.
Speaker 1:I have an Alexa but I don't have her plugged in, and the only time I do use her is when I can't find my phone. I'll plug Alexa in and I'm saying Alexa call my phone, calling Michelle, and she calls my phone. You can do that, and then I find it.
Speaker 2:See, I don't even know this. What do I? Know, I'm not ahead of the times, clearly. And then I unplug her and put her back in the drawer. I really sounded like a boomer there for a second.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, so just I just thought these were interesting points. Not really. I think there are things that come up. They're definitely things that have been brought to the forefront of my mind, Just as of late, again, the movie thing talking at work about it, that thing that we were talking about. There's another incident that I was talking to my son about a situation in the car and literally, yeah, within 30 minutes it was on my feed on Instagram. Things about had to do with taxes, a specific point in regard to taxes, and it's just, and there it was.
Speaker 1:there's just too too many things that really aren't coincidental. At this point they're they're not coincidental, and you don't always have to search something for it to pop up on your feed anymore.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you this it's like and I know you know a little bit about, probably even more than I do about like TikTok and all of the stuff that's been going on Does TikTok listen to you too, do?
Speaker 1:you think, well, I don't know, it's a matter of listening. It has your voice commands within the microphone on the app.
Speaker 2:Okay, man's, within the microphone on the app, okay, you know so, but the whole issue with that is that it is a communist based country's app. But you know, what's so interesting about it is that the tiktok version in china is very different than ours, so it's almost like ours has been set up to to be a free-for-all to corrupt us well, and that's kind of how it sounds, because theirs is all based on education and there's limits on times and I don't even know, maybe even age limits has to do with your social credit score.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're definitely going to be talking about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah I'm going to have to have you watch that show that I was telling you about too, because it's exactly what it's like the future here, and and that's what's in that particular show it's interesting because the the way it started over there.
Speaker 1:Anyways, same things are happening here and it's I. I am not going to be surprised when we have a social social credit score here. Will not surprise me.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying it's going to happen tomorrow, but I think it'll happen so if michelle's shitty social credit score means that I'm going to have to like front for her on a car or something, it's not financial.
Speaker 1:It has to do with behavior.
Speaker 2:I'm going to have to get the Uber ride because nobody will pick her up.
Speaker 1:But then it can affect you financially, like your card won't work. Everything's connected. It's crazy. It's crazy shit.
Speaker 2:Or they charge you more money to let it work. We'll have to talk about it, yeah, shit. So yeah, they charge you more money to let it work about it, yeah, anyway. Okay, dive into that one.
Speaker 1:Well, on that note, miss Michelle, yeah, you know. If you're interested in knowing about how to turn, turn those microphones off again, I'll be showing it on a post that we put up this week on all the socials, which is Facebook, instagram and TikTok.
Speaker 2:You can also download the episode, and and back and then you have it offline, so nobody's following you and knowing what you're listening to.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 2:Even better and in the meantime I'll go watch that porno, so at least I can you know be doing something that this guy's trying to ransom me for All right, everybody All right. Have a good one, everybody, peace out, take care, have a great week, bye, bye.