CNET’s Nelson Aguilar tackles a stubborn myth: your iPhone (or Android) isn’t secretly recording conversations to target ads. The creepiness you feel after chatting about a topic and immediately seeing a related ad is real—but the cause is far more mundane (and pervasive): behavioral profiling, data brokers, and cross-device identity graphs that predict what you’ll click next.

Key takeaways

• No evidence of covert “always-on ad mics.” Independent researchers haven’t found phones secretly streaming audio for ad targeting. A landmark 2018 Northeastern study watched thousands of apps and saw no hidden audio exfiltration—though it did catch some apps recording screens or uploading visuals.
• The ad machine doesn’t need your voice. Platforms (like Instagram), advertisers’ customer lists, identity matchers, and data brokers combine your clicks, searches, location hints, and purchase history to time ads with uncanny precision. EFF’s Eva Galperin: the problem isn’t a microphone—it’s the data-broker industry.
• Smart assistants ≠ ad mics. “Hey Siri/Hey Google” listeners run locally to detect wake words; studies show occasional false wakes, not 24/7 recording.
• One exception that fueled suspicion: a 2024 “Active Listening” pitch deck from Cox Media Group suggested ambient-audio ad ideas. After scrutiny, Google cut CMG from its partner program, and CMG says the product is discontinued. This kept the myth alive — but doesn’t prove phones do hot-mic ad targeting.

Why it feels like your phone is listening

Psychology does the rest. Once a topic is top of mind, frequency illusion and confirmation bias make matching ads stand out while you forget the thousands of misses. That eerie ad likely arrived because the system already pegged you as high-probability for that topic — and budget happened to hit while you were scrolling.

What you can do right now

• Trim permissions: Set Location to While Using (and Approximate when possible); revoke mic/camera where not needed. Check iOS App Privacy Report or Android Privacy Dashboard regularly.
• Cut data exhaust: Uninstall unused apps, block trackers in your browser (e.g., uBlock Origin + Privacy Badger), avoid uploading contacts, and use email aliases for newsletters/loyalty.
• Reduce broker matching: Use data-deletion/opt-out services periodically; it’s imperfect but narrows targeting accuracy.
  (These steps align with guidance from privacy researchers and EFF.)

Big picture

The ad industry keeps shifting from explicit IDs to AI-driven prediction — less about who you are, more about what you’ll likely do next. That makes ads feel telepathic without ever cracking open your microphone. Vox’s 2018 conversation with the Northeastern team still holds up: the myth is catchy, the evidence isn’t.