Me discussing buying a car has convinced my mother to finally go grapheneOS

2026-05-11 08:43 UTC

So I am recently looking up the options to buy a new EV and, clearly, I’ve been discussing it with my family and close friends. There was one constant tho, anytime we ended up discussing it, THEIR phones would light up with a plethora of Car adverts. This has made my mother snap, she has told me she wants to buy the same phone as mine and I’ve finally been able to discuss with her other ways these devices are made to work for the manufacturer, not their buyers. So far so good! I personally can’t wait to setup the GrapheneOS phone for her.

Replies (5)

@f371ks@lemmy.world 2026-05-11 09:24

My partner had some similar instances where she discussed selling a niche product and ads popping up all of a sudden while we did not search for it or anything. Are there any focused ideas on how this is triggered? First thing I thought of was us being listened in to but this is mostly dismissed when I read up online.

Open ##2413913
@nightofmichelinstars@sopuli.xyz 2026-05-11 11:22

My partner’s cousins love the spying. We were playing chess and talking about practicing more, and one cousin opened his phone and there were ads for chess apps. They were delighted.

Open ##2415913
@prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2026-05-11 12:23

If you’ve got an Android phone, you can turn your microphone and camera off at the system level with the whatever-it’s-called quick menu thing you pull down from the top. I just keep them off always, unless I need it specifically to make/answer a call or take a photo. If you receive a call, you get a pop up with yes/no about enabling the mic to answer. If you hit yes, you get the permissions pop up for the phone app and can allow it for “this time only”. The microphone will automatically shut back off when the call is done. Never once had this happen to me.

Open ##2416728
@Im_old@lemmy.world 2026-05-11 21:27

I would love to get my partner on gOS but without google pay she’d be lost

Open ##2430425
@MonaySimpson@lemmy.ml 2026-05-11 22:36

I'm glad for the switch. Buuuut it doesn't work like that. You search cars heavily. You and your Mum have FB/social media. You have Bluetooth or location or WiFi on. Social knows your hanging out and likely to discuss cars. It shows them ads. A tech podcast did a dive into this. It even works if your partner and mum arnt connected on social media. Imagine your Mum lives interstate. Mum searches plane tickets and is coming in a month, during the time she searches perfumes but doesn't buy. A few days before arrival your partner gets perfume ads from a place nearby. When mum lands she talks about getting perfume. Partner has been primed where to go. Its insidious. Graphine will help a little but if you use the internet there is still tracking. My phone carrier requires an app to change plans. I installed it in a separate profile then the next day got ads for it in FB.

Open ##2596892