Many smartphone users in India are concerned about the privacy of their conversations with a circle of family and friends, especially after noticing that classified ads gave the impression on their feeds after having a voice conversation.
According to a recent study conducted through the social media platform LocalCircles, 1 in 2 users in India has observed instances where they have seen classified ads in a verbal exchange they had with one of their contacts.
Nearly 53% of the other 8,000 people surveyed said they had noticed instances in the past 12 months of similar classified ads after a phone call. The other part of the respondents did not see such instances on their smartphones.
The survey shows that 9% of the approximately 9000 respondents have allowed the use of the microphone in all their applications. Users who gave apps a microphone for audio and video calls and for posting on social media accounted for 11%.
The survey garnered responses from more than 38,000 LocalCircle users nationwide. I had 3 main queries. The first was whether or not users had seen classified ads about the products they had talked about on a call. Specifically, in the last 12 months. The consultation at the moment evaluated the knowledge of users about the number of programs that have access to their microphones. The company also sought to find out which apps had access to the touch list.
Google is smarter to show the right classified ads at the right time. I personally experienced a moment where I saw an ad about a product I talked about. But you would possibly have also searched for the product on Google before, or possibly searched for it on e-commerce sites. Many Internet sites use cookies and trackers to locate which users are visiting their pages and collect data about a user’s interests.
Unknowingly, when surfing the net, there may be cases where some of the products have been caught through those trackers. Google Ads is known to provide classified ads based on the person’s interests or to demonstrate something close to the target audience.
While it’s attractive to see how this latest report will shape the discussion about privacy in the country, cellular operating systems like iOS and Android allow consumers to actively track apps from their microphones and cameras.
On Android devices, users will see a camera icon or microphone icon in the notification bar. On iOS devices, you’ll see an orange dot or a green dot just above the network bars. Orange indicates access to the microphone, while green is for the camera. of those icons are visual when you’re not using the camera or during a voice call, you can tap them to see which app is accessing them.
Source: LocalCircles (opens in a new tab)
Malayali-Mumbaikar, Sachin became interested in all things technology while working in the BPO industry, spending hours on technology blogs. He is an enthusiast and loves to spend long motorcycle rides. Playing and watching TV screens are also part of his other hobbies. .
Get offers, reviews, product tips, contests, must-have tech news from TechRadar India and more!
Thank you for signing up for Array. You will get a verification shortly.
There is a problem. Refresh the page and check again.
TechRadar is a component of Future plc, a leading global media organization and virtual publisher. Visit our company (opens in a new tab).