Am I being spied on through my phone?

[OldLady]

"All conspiracy theories are theories until proven."

I know that when I shop anywhere in the internet, that somehow Facebook then knows to throw adds at me about the very thing I searched Amazon for, or my search engine. It's not too hard to imagine how that would happen, and in my mind I don't really mind too much. I've found that waiting to purchase until all other options are presented to me, has saved me money.

However...

More and more I am beginning to get the conviction that my phone is also listening. And I know I'm not alone here. there are examples, things that happened to me that made me say "Woah!" a number of times. I can't remember the details now but I remember thinking that my phone had to be listening.

But something just happened and I decided to create this thread before I forgot the details.

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter and her husband took me to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I saw on the menu, a Tomahawk steak. I mentioned at dinner how impressed I was by that cut and also the Cowboy cut steak. I ordered it, a server brought it to the table on a cart and carved it up for me with great fanfare. we took a video of it and posted it on Facebook. After that when I was at worked I talked about the steak on several occasions, and I told family and friends that I was going to talk to my butcher about having him cut me one. Not once did I look up Tomahawk Steaks on Facebook or in a search engine. I didn't need to, I know what it is and I have a butcher who knows so why would I?

You guessed it, my Facebook feed is frequently giving me ads for Tomahawk steaks and places where I can get one or have one delivered. Again, this has happened to me before, but I have forgotten the details.

I don't know how to turn off the microphone on my phone, and I'm not sure if I want to. I use talk to text a lot. Now, I'm not more computer savvy than the average person, these things I have to try to explain to myself without benefit of that knowledge, but it seems anything is possible with technology these days.

It's not going to take too much for me to go down this conspiracy theory road, I already REFUSE to have smart devices, other than phones, in my home. I heard of a computer engineer who recently said "I'm just going to put this put there: I don't have any smart devices in my home."

My son mentioned that to me not long ago. He is beginning to suspect the same.

 

[Ringel05]

"All conspiracy theories are theories until proven."

I know that when I shop anywhere in the internet, that somehow Facebook then knows to throw adds at me about the very thing I searched Amazon for, or my search engine. It's not too hard to imagine how that would happen, and in my mind I don't really mind too much. I've found that waiting to purchase until all other options are presented to me, has saved me money.

However...

More and more I am beginning to get the conviction that my phone is also listening. And I know I'm not alone here. there are examples, things that happened to me that made me say "Woah!" a number of times. I can't remember the details now but I remember thinking that my phone had to be listening.

But something just happened and I decided to create this thread before I forgot the details.

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter and her husband took me to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I saw on the menu, a Tomahawk steak. I mentioned at dinner how impressed I was by that cut and also the Cowboy cut steak. I ordered it, a server brought it to the table on a cart and carved it up for me with great fanfare. we took a video of it and posted it on Facebook. After that when I was at worked I talked about the steak on several occasions, and I told family and friends that I was going to talk to my butcher about having him cut me one. Not once did I look up Tomahawk Steaks on Facebook or in a search engine. I didn't need to, I know what it is and I have a butcher who knows so why would I?

You guessed it, my Facebook feed is frequently giving me ads for Tomahawk steaks and places where I can get one or have one delivered. Again, this has happened to me before, but I have forgotten the details.

I don't know how to turn off the microphone on my phone, and I'm not sure if I want to. I use talk to text a lot. Now, I'm not more computer savvy than the average person, these things I have to try to explain to myself without benefit of that knowledge, but it seems anything is possible with technology these days.

It's not going to take too much for me to go down this conspiracy theory road, I already REFUSE to have smart devices, other than phones, in my home. I heard of a computer engineer who recently said "I'm just going to put this put there: I don't have any smart devices in my home."

You're phone isn't "spying" on you, per se. However, it is remembering everything you do and noting what you are interested in, then advertising what it thinks you want. That's called "marketing."

Understood when I've done a search or purchase online, but as I stated, I did not search Tomahawk Steaks. Didn't need to, I have a butcher. As far as I can tell, I never, until now, typed the words "tomahawk steak" on any device.

Did you take a picture of the steak with your phone? Did your daughter/SIL pay for the meal or did you?
If you have "Location" turned on then marketers, etc can track you anywhere you go. There's no conspiracy per se, unless you consider what I call aggressive advertising practices a conspiracy.

 

[Ringel05]

You can change microphone permissions on your device. There's other permissions and settings, too, depending on what kind of device it is.

I don't use faceook, but they can run ads based on what you upload, if you've allowed it.

But does that really stop it?

This should help explain a lot.
Stop Facebook from tracking you and using targeted ads with these tips

 

[Natural Citizen]

Yeah, Ringel's the computer guy around here. Follow his directions and you'll be okay.

 

[007]

"All conspiracy theories are theories until proven."

I know that when I shop anywhere in the internet, that somehow Facebook then knows to throw adds at me about the very thing I searched Amazon for, or my search engine. It's not too hard to imagine how that would happen, and in my mind I don't really mind too much. I've found that waiting to purchase until all other options are presented to me, has saved me money.

However...

More and more I am beginning to get the conviction that my phone is also listening. And I know I'm not alone here. there are examples, things that happened to me that made me say "Woah!" a number of times. I can't remember the details now but I remember thinking that my phone had to be listening.

But something just happened and I decided to create this thread before I forgot the details.

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter and her husband took me to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I saw on the menu, a Tomahawk steak. I mentioned at dinner how impressed I was by that cut and also the Cowboy cut steak. I ordered it, a server brought it to the table on a cart and carved it up for me with great fanfare. we took a video of it and posted it on Facebook. After that when I was at worked I talked about the steak on several occasions, and I told family and friends that I was going to talk to my butcher about having him cut me one. Not once did I look up Tomahawk Steaks on Facebook or in a search engine. I didn't need to, I know what it is and I have a butcher who knows so why would I?

You guessed it, my Facebook feed is frequently giving me ads for Tomahawk steaks and places where I can get one or have one delivered. Again, this has happened to me before, but I have forgotten the details.

I don't know how to turn off the microphone on my phone, and I'm not sure if I want to. I use talk to text a lot. Now, I'm not more computer savvy than the average person, these things I have to try to explain to myself without benefit of that knowledge, but it seems anything is possible with technology these days.

It's not going to take too much for me to go down this conspiracy theory road, I already REFUSE to have smart devices, other than phones, in my home. I heard of a computer engineer who recently said "I'm just going to put this put there: I don't have any smart devices in my home."

You're phone isn't "spying" on you, per se. However, it is remembering everything you do and noting what you are interested in, then advertising what it thinks you want. That's called "marketing."

Understood when I've done a search or purchase online, but as I stated, I did not search Tomahawk Steaks. Didn't need to, I have a butcher. As far as I can tell, I never, until now, typed the words "tomahawk steak" on any device.

Did you take a picture of the steak with your phone? Did your daughter/SIL pay for the meal or did you?
If you have "Location" turned on then marketers, etc can track you anywhere you go. There's no conspiracy per se, unless you consider what I call aggressive advertising practices a conspiracy.

Yep, you beat me too it. He took a video of the steak and then posted it on facebook. Who owns the Android OS in your smart phone? Google.

There ya go.

 

[MisterBeale]

I tell my kid all the time that he IS the product on Social Media and to quit liking shit. . .

He never listens to me.

I catch him scrolling his Instagram all the damn time. . . liking on shit.

I'm like. . . What the hell do you get out of liking anonymous business pages? No one cares, why do you? I don't get it.

 

[Ringel05]

Yeah, Ringel's the computer guy around here. Follow his directions and you'll be okay.

And may God have pity on their souls........

 

[CWayne]

"All conspiracy theories are theories until proven."

I know that when I shop anywhere in the internet, that somehow Facebook then knows to throw adds at me about the very thing I searched Amazon for, or my search engine. It's not too hard to imagine how that would happen, and in my mind I don't really mind too much. I've found that waiting to purchase until all other options are presented to me, has saved me money.

However...

More and more I am beginning to get the conviction that my phone is also listening. And I know I'm not alone here. there are examples, things that happened to me that made me say "Woah!" a number of times. I can't remember the details now but I remember thinking that my phone had to be listening.

But something just happened and I decided to create this thread before I forgot the details.

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter and her husband took me to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I saw on the menu, a Tomahawk steak. I mentioned at dinner how impressed I was by that cut and also the Cowboy cut steak. I ordered it, a server brought it to the table on a cart and carved it up for me with great fanfare. we took a video of it and posted it on Facebook. After that when I was at worked I talked about the steak on several occasions, and I told family and friends that I was going to talk to my butcher about having him cut me one. Not once did I look up Tomahawk Steaks on Facebook or in a search engine. I didn't need to, I know what it is and I have a butcher who knows so why would I?

You guessed it, my Facebook feed is frequently giving me ads for Tomahawk steaks and places where I can get one or have one delivered. Again, this has happened to me before, but I have forgotten the details.

I don't know how to turn off the microphone on my phone, and I'm not sure if I want to. I use talk to text a lot. Now, I'm not more computer savvy than the average person, these things I have to try to explain to myself without benefit of that knowledge, but it seems anything is possible with technology these days.

It's not going to take too much for me to go down this conspiracy theory road, I already REFUSE to have smart devices, other than phones, in my home. I heard of a computer engineer who recently said "I'm just going to put this put there: I don't have any smart devices in my home."

You're phone isn't "spying" on you, per se. However, it is remembering everything you do and noting what you are interested in, then advertising what it thinks you want. That's called "marketing."

Understood when I've done a search or purchase online, but as I stated, I did not search Tomahawk Steaks. Didn't need to, I have a butcher. As far as I can tell, I never, until now, typed the words "tomahawk steak" on any device.

You posted what you were doing to social media.

Your phone already knew what restaurant you were at. That is how you see so many "check-ins" on facebook. The restaurant's wifi was talking with your facebook app and recording that information to your profile.

Your profile is then added to the trillions of bytes of information on you and presented to advertisers who are doing targeted searches for their product. Clearly, these tomahawk steaks are owned by a specific brand that is doing targeted research.

They then put those ads in front of your eyes.

 

[shockedcanadian]

"All conspiracy theories are theories until proven."

I know that when I shop anywhere in the internet, that somehow Facebook then knows to throw adds at me about the very thing I searched Amazon for, or my search engine. It's not too hard to imagine how that would happen, and in my mind I don't really mind too much. I've found that waiting to purchase until all other options are presented to me, has saved me money.

However...

More and more I am beginning to get the conviction that my phone is also listening. And I know I'm not alone here. there are examples, things that happened to me that made me say "Woah!" a number of times. I can't remember the details now but I remember thinking that my phone had to be listening.

But something just happened and I decided to create this thread before I forgot the details.

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter and her husband took me to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I saw on the menu, a Tomahawk steak. I mentioned at dinner how impressed I was by that cut and also the Cowboy cut steak. I ordered it, a server brought it to the table on a cart and carved it up for me with great fanfare. we took a video of it and posted it on Facebook. After that when I was at worked I talked about the steak on several occasions, and I told family and friends that I was going to talk to my butcher about having him cut me one. Not once did I look up Tomahawk Steaks on Facebook or in a search engine. I didn't need to, I know what it is and I have a butcher who knows so why would I?

You guessed it, my Facebook feed is frequently giving me ads for Tomahawk steaks and places where I can get one or have one delivered. Again, this has happened to me before, but I have forgotten the details.

I don't know how to turn off the microphone on my phone, and I'm not sure if I want to. I use talk to text a lot. Now, I'm not more computer savvy than the average person, these things I have to try to explain to myself without benefit of that knowledge, but it seems anything is possible with technology these days.

It's not going to take too much for me to go down this conspiracy theory road, I already REFUSE to have smart devices, other than phones, in my home. I heard of a computer engineer who recently said "I'm just going to put this put there: I don't have any smart devices in my home."

This is interesting. I would think it would be related to your video you posted on facebook, not your phone. Though if you have a battery in your cell phone, yes, you are a walking GPS and also can be heard if someone wanted to listen to you. Turning off the mic would require you to remove the battery when not in use.

Back to the video. I can only throw the ideas out there, I don't know much about Facebook or how they operate, I do know a bit about Machine Learning/Neural Networks due to my personal interest in the subject, so I give what I believe is technically possible. Take this with a grain of salt, the subject matter is interesting to me.

My very first assumption would go to something you typed when posting the video in Facebook. So "here's a video of me eating a Tomahawk Steak on my birthday". Bam. Text pasted into FB, ad to follow. This to me seems far more probable than your phone listening and sending ads (is your phone number even connected to your FB account?).

To go down the conspiracy path, Facebook might use some algorithm that identified you speaking in the video about the Tomahawk steak, or, this would be a stretch; some parameter used by Facebook picked up a frame in the video by Facebook that identified that steak very specifically. Both of these are stretches as I'm not even sure Facebook is allowed to do this based on the T&C's I can only throw the idea out there. I'm certain it is technically possible, though I don't think it would be a cheap implementation nor cost effective with so many on their network.

Is it possible one of your Friended Facebook people watched your video, shared it, whatever, and THEY searched for such steaks after (or before) watching the video, and their system picked up the association between them and their viewing of the video on your page and thus, they sent the ad to you? Again, I just throw out possibilities out there, I don't know how their site works, I'm quite sure such association ads are possible in some form or another.

Machine Learning is extremely advanced and constantly progressing, becoming more accurate, even sublime. For instance, Netflix used an algorithm that picked up where viewers were pausing videos, skipping scenes, re-watching episodes etc for their series House of Cards and they used the collected data to literally write the script to cater to their audiences tastes in future episodes. The future of Machine Learning, taking what viewers tell them they like, don't like, really like, and developing future storylines that feed that interest.

 

[MindWars]

"All conspiracy theories are theories until proven."

I know that when I shop anywhere in the internet, that somehow Facebook then knows to throw adds at me about the very thing I searched Amazon for, or my search engine. It's not too hard to imagine how that would happen, and in my mind I don't really mind too much. I've found that waiting to purchase until all other options are presented to me, has saved me money.

However...

More and more I am beginning to get the conviction that my phone is also listening. And I know I'm not alone here. there are examples, things that happened to me that made me say "Woah!" a number of times. I can't remember the details now but I remember thinking that my phone had to be listening.

But something just happened and I decided to create this thread before I forgot the details.

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter and her husband took me to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I saw on the menu, a Tomahawk steak. I mentioned at dinner how impressed I was by that cut and also the Cowboy cut steak. I ordered it, a server brought it to the table on a cart and carved it up for me with great fanfare. we took a video of it and posted it on Facebook. After that when I was at worked I talked about the steak on several occasions, and I told family and friends that I was going to talk to my butcher about having him cut me one. Not once did I look up Tomahawk Steaks on Facebook or in a search engine. I didn't need to, I know what it is and I have a butcher who knows so why would I?

You guessed it, my Facebook feed is frequently giving me ads for Tomahawk steaks and places where I can get one or have one delivered. Again, this has happened to me before, but I have forgotten the details.

I don't know how to turn off the microphone on my phone, and I'm not sure if I want to. I use talk to text a lot. Now, I'm not more computer savvy than the average person, these things I have to try to explain to myself without benefit of that knowledge, but it seems anything is possible with technology these days.

It's not going to take too much for me to go down this conspiracy theory road, I already REFUSE to have smart devices, other than phones, in my home. I heard of a computer engineer who recently said "I'm just going to put this put there: I don't have any smart devices in my home."

You can't turn it off and it doesn't matter if you turn it off and the Deep state wants you to think it's a conspiracy so they can keep you stupid WAKE THE HELL UP IT IT IS A SPY TOOL TO KEEP TRACK OF YUR ASS!!

 

[MindWars]

YOU WILL FOREVER BE SPIED ON WAKE THE HELL UP!!

 

[MindWars]

The data Is STORED, get it STORED so when the criminal is needed they will make the crime fits something most of these sleeping dumbasses on here don't seem to get............ They can prosecute you for something 20 yrs later most of these assholes on here think it's funny wait until one of them get caught up in it those who laugh are usually the first assholes a law gets too bahah.

 

[MindWars]

all those little things you think are " SMART" are tools to be USED against you better wake up!!

Siminoff’s invention didn’t just apply a “smart home” sheen to the doorbell. It became a part of Amazon’s configuration to solve package theft. It infiltrated the day-to-day operations of hundreds of police departments. It created a culture where it’s OK for millions of people to watch not only each other but themselves. And crucially, it became the last resort for people are rightly afraid of the police, and rightly fear for their safety.

Ring Has Given ‘Active Camera’ Maps of Its Customers to Police

 

[PredFan]

You can change microphone permissions on your device. There's other permissions and settings, too, depending on what kind of device it is.

I don't use faceook, but they can run ads based on what you upload, if you've allowed it.

But does that really stop it?

Pretty sure. But there's a lot of settings, you'll be clicking and ticking things for a couple of hours. lol. A lot of those default apps and even third party apps have permissions to access your whole file system. Then there is data permissions, camera permissions, microphone permissions, etc etc...permissions to perform user actions...

They can even send texts. Hey, lookit this steak Pred just had.

Interesting. thanks.

 

[PredFan]

What kind of phone is it?

iPhone

 

[PredFan]

Maybe we've a dept of terrorist tomahawk steaks we don't know about?

~S~

I understand and appreciate the humor, but let me be clear; that's just an example. These days I'm trying to keep my ownership of guns under the radar. I'm thinking about never speaking of them while my phone is on me and turning it off whenever I go to the range.

It's not just the steaks.

Well, if they didn't know about your guns before, they sure do now. Do you really think your USMB account is anonymous to the government?

Pretty sure, I always use a VPN.

 

[Dick Foster]

Maybe we've a dept of terrorist tomahawk steaks we don't know about?

~S~

I understand and appreciate the humor, but let me be clear; that's just an example. These days I'm trying to keep my ownership of guns under the radar. I'm thinking about never speaking of them while my phone is on me and turning it off whenever I go to the range.

It's not just the steaks.

You have do more than turn it off, you have put in a place where it can't see or listen in on you. Just because you turned it off is no guarantee that's it's really off. Of course the best thing is just not to own one at all.

 

[PredFan]

"All conspiracy theories are theories until proven."

I know that when I shop anywhere in the internet, that somehow Facebook then knows to throw adds at me about the very thing I searched Amazon for, or my search engine. It's not too hard to imagine how that would happen, and in my mind I don't really mind too much. I've found that waiting to purchase until all other options are presented to me, has saved me money.

However...

More and more I am beginning to get the conviction that my phone is also listening. And I know I'm not alone here. there are examples, things that happened to me that made me say "Woah!" a number of times. I can't remember the details now but I remember thinking that my phone had to be listening.

But something just happened and I decided to create this thread before I forgot the details.

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter and her husband took me to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I saw on the menu, a Tomahawk steak. I mentioned at dinner how impressed I was by that cut and also the Cowboy cut steak. I ordered it, a server brought it to the table on a cart and carved it up for me with great fanfare. we took a video of it and posted it on Facebook. After that when I was at worked I talked about the steak on several occasions, and I told family and friends that I was going to talk to my butcher about having him cut me one. Not once did I look up Tomahawk Steaks on Facebook or in a search engine. I didn't need to, I know what it is and I have a butcher who knows so why would I?

You guessed it, my Facebook feed is frequently giving me ads for Tomahawk steaks and places where I can get one or have one delivered. Again, this has happened to me before, but I have forgotten the details.

I don't know how to turn off the microphone on my phone, and I'm not sure if I want to. I use talk to text a lot. Now, I'm not more computer savvy than the average person, these things I have to try to explain to myself without benefit of that knowledge, but it seems anything is possible with technology these days.

It's not going to take too much for me to go down this conspiracy theory road, I already REFUSE to have smart devices, other than phones, in my home. I heard of a computer engineer who recently said "I'm just going to put this put there: I don't have any smart devices in my home."

You're phone isn't "spying" on you, per se. However, it is remembering everything you do and noting what you are interested in, then advertising what it thinks you want. That's called "marketing."

Understood when I've done a search or purchase online, but as I stated, I did not search Tomahawk Steaks. Didn't need to, I have a butcher. As far as I can tell, I never, until now, typed the words "tomahawk steak" on any device.

Did you take a picture of the steak with your phone? Did your daughter/SIL pay for the meal or did you?
If you have "Location" turned on then marketers, etc can track you anywhere you go. There's no conspiracy per se, unless you consider what I call aggressive advertising practices a conspiracy.

In order:

No, they paid, I keep location turned off as much as possible.

No conspiracy....that you are aware of.

 

[PredFan]

"All conspiracy theories are theories until proven."

I know that when I shop anywhere in the internet, that somehow Facebook then knows to throw adds at me about the very thing I searched Amazon for, or my search engine. It's not too hard to imagine how that would happen, and in my mind I don't really mind too much. I've found that waiting to purchase until all other options are presented to me, has saved me money.

However...

More and more I am beginning to get the conviction that my phone is also listening. And I know I'm not alone here. there are examples, things that happened to me that made me say "Woah!" a number of times. I can't remember the details now but I remember thinking that my phone had to be listening.

But something just happened and I decided to create this thread before I forgot the details.

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter and her husband took me to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I saw on the menu, a Tomahawk steak. I mentioned at dinner how impressed I was by that cut and also the Cowboy cut steak. I ordered it, a server brought it to the table on a cart and carved it up for me with great fanfare. we took a video of it and posted it on Facebook. After that when I was at worked I talked about the steak on several occasions, and I told family and friends that I was going to talk to my butcher about having him cut me one. Not once did I look up Tomahawk Steaks on Facebook or in a search engine. I didn't need to, I know what it is and I have a butcher who knows so why would I?

You guessed it, my Facebook feed is frequently giving me ads for Tomahawk steaks and places where I can get one or have one delivered. Again, this has happened to me before, but I have forgotten the details.

I don't know how to turn off the microphone on my phone, and I'm not sure if I want to. I use talk to text a lot. Now, I'm not more computer savvy than the average person, these things I have to try to explain to myself without benefit of that knowledge, but it seems anything is possible with technology these days.

It's not going to take too much for me to go down this conspiracy theory road, I already REFUSE to have smart devices, other than phones, in my home. I heard of a computer engineer who recently said "I'm just going to put this put there: I don't have any smart devices in my home."

You're phone isn't "spying" on you, per se. However, it is remembering everything you do and noting what you are interested in, then advertising what it thinks you want. That's called "marketing."

Understood when I've done a search or purchase online, but as I stated, I did not search Tomahawk Steaks. Didn't need to, I have a butcher. As far as I can tell, I never, until now, typed the words "tomahawk steak" on any device.

Did you take a picture of the steak with your phone? Did your daughter/SIL pay for the meal or did you?
If you have "Location" turned on then marketers, etc can track you anywhere you go. There's no conspiracy per se, unless you consider what I call aggressive advertising practices a conspiracy.

Yep, you beat me too it. He took a video of the steak and then posted it on facebook. Who owns the Android OS in your smart phone? Google.

There ya go.

But how does the video connect to the steak? Unless you are saying a human bothered to look at it to determine what kind of steak it was.

 

[PredFan]

"All conspiracy theories are theories until proven."

I know that when I shop anywhere in the internet, that somehow Facebook then knows to throw adds at me about the very thing I searched Amazon for, or my search engine. It's not too hard to imagine how that would happen, and in my mind I don't really mind too much. I've found that waiting to purchase until all other options are presented to me, has saved me money.

However...

More and more I am beginning to get the conviction that my phone is also listening. And I know I'm not alone here. there are examples, things that happened to me that made me say "Woah!" a number of times. I can't remember the details now but I remember thinking that my phone had to be listening.

But something just happened and I decided to create this thread before I forgot the details.

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter and her husband took me to a fancy restaurant for dinner. I saw on the menu, a Tomahawk steak. I mentioned at dinner how impressed I was by that cut and also the Cowboy cut steak. I ordered it, a server brought it to the table on a cart and carved it up for me with great fanfare. we took a video of it and posted it on Facebook. After that when I was at worked I talked about the steak on several occasions, and I told family and friends that I was going to talk to my butcher about having him cut me one. Not once did I look up Tomahawk Steaks on Facebook or in a search engine. I didn't need to, I know what it is and I have a butcher who knows so why would I?

You guessed it, my Facebook feed is frequently giving me ads for Tomahawk steaks and places where I can get one or have one delivered. Again, this has happened to me before, but I have forgotten the details.

I don't know how to turn off the microphone on my phone, and I'm not sure if I want to. I use talk to text a lot. Now, I'm not more computer savvy than the average person, these things I have to try to explain to myself without benefit of that knowledge, but it seems anything is possible with technology these days.

It's not going to take too much for me to go down this conspiracy theory road, I already REFUSE to have smart devices, other than phones, in my home. I heard of a computer engineer who recently said "I'm just going to put this put there: I don't have any smart devices in my home."

You're phone isn't "spying" on you, per se. However, it is remembering everything you do and noting what you are interested in, then advertising what it thinks you want. That's called "marketing."

Understood when I've done a search or purchase online, but as I stated, I did not search Tomahawk Steaks. Didn't need to, I have a butcher. As far as I can tell, I never, until now, typed the words "tomahawk steak" on any device.

You posted what you were doing to social media.

Your phone already knew what restaurant you were at. That is how you see so many "check-ins" on facebook. The restaurant's wifi was talking with your facebook app and recording that information to your profile.

Your profile is then added to the trillions of bytes of information on you and presented to advertisers who are doing targeted searches for their product. Clearly, these tomahawk steaks are owned by a specific brand that is doing targeted research.

They then put those ads in front of your eyes.

I did not, but my daughter did. However, she did not mention the cut of the steak. I understand the rest of what you are saying.