Aubrey Plaza is starring in the new Child’s Play movie, out now. I’m not sure yet if I’ll see it as the reviews are middlin. (If my friends want to go I might, although I should have talked them out of The Dead Don’t Die, I can’t believe how bad that was.) The premise is that Chucky becomes evil due to the cloud and the cloud also allows him to do more evil things beyond just being stabby. Aubrey has been talking about her fear of technology and how she doesn’t trust it. In an interview with Seth Myers, she discussed this again, joking that the robots are going to dominate us someday (which is the plot of just about every show) and that she doesn’t trust technology. Her boyfriend, screenwriter Jeff Baena, has set up a smart home for them and she doesn’t like it.
This Chucky is an evil smart doll that’s connected to the cloud. He can control all of your devices. It’s a warning to the world. Robots will kill us all. I think we’re naive in thinking these devices aren’t going to turn on us one day. I don’t like them at all.
I don’t trust Siri or Alexa they both sound evil to me.
[From Late Night with Seth Meyers]
We got Amazon Echos gifted by my son’s dad to keep in touch with the grandparents. It’s convenient for video chatting, but I try to keep it turned off when we don’t use it and sometimes I cover it with a dish towel. I also have the camera on my laptop duct taped and I try to remember to tape the two cameras on my phone too. I know this sounds paranoid but read this post. I really do think these devices spy on you and there’s more than anecdotal evidence that they do. Also, Siri is kind of dumb compared to the Google assistant. I’m sure the Google assistant is more evil but I’ll take her evil helpfulness over Siri any day.
Here’s that interview:
Photos credit: Avalon.red and via Instagram
I always change permission on Instagram app to turn the microphone permission off. Because if i don’t, all my ads are random words said in my phone’s presence. Oddly it stops once the app’s permission is off…. stop listening Insta!
Example I was talking about going to a restaurant “X”, and suddenly there were ads for nurses scrubs from a website with the same name X. I have never searched for scrubs so ???
I have microphone and camera off on all my apps that my phone will allow. No social media on my phone…. or at all *my mental health improved dramatically after deleting it all* no in home wire taps.
I think a lot of the data farming on our phones and the devices in our home are going to lead to personalization of media manipulation. No thanks google.
I was just saying the same to my husband! All the ads on IG or Facebook are about something I talked about. Yesterday we talked about à Volkswagen car and Instagram suggested it to me!! So thanks for the tip, I’ll turn the microphone off…
Not only Alexa, google, siri, those sleep trackers, workout apps, heart, everything is being downloaded as a complete fingerprint of who and what we are. The Nsa will turn this into Minority Report
Didn’t I just read about a lawsuit against amazon for using Alexa commands to make “voice fingerprints” for all users? They are definitely spying on you, which is why I have Siri/microphone disabled on my phone and you won’t find an Alexa device in my home.
Alexa devices are listening constantly to wait to hear Alexa, but they’re also recording. Amazon swears they’re not doing anything with it but sure, Jan.
Exactly! Why are Amazon recording and saving those files if they’re not up to something? Hard pass. I’ll skip out on a little bit of convenience if it preserves my privacy.
They’re totally saving all the recordings. Passive listening is one thing, it’s how the tech works, but the recording saving of everything everyone is saying is creepy and probably unconstitutional. It’s what Edward Snowden warned us about, look up PRISM. This is what that project was for, to force tech companies to turn over private records of everyone using their devices.
It really doesn’t matter anymore, your phone, your watch and Google are doing the same. From what I read somewhere, Google saves your searches even if you delete the activity and reads your emails and lets third party companies do the same.
I would argue Google searches, which you choose to enter, versus recording all sounds around a device regardless of human action (entering a request) are different.
I don’t use location services, barely use my email, and have a “dumb” watch. I still send letters by mail. I do what I can to mitigate what others are doing with my info. I’m not just going to roll over and be okay with constant overreach into my private business.
Yeah, I noticed they read my email a while ago as I get ads for things Ive emailed about. It’s pretty damn audacious, no subtlety at all. Sometimes I swear I get ads for things I’ve only thought about but never talked or emailed about, lol.
This. I don’t have any of these devices and I don’t want to.
Our Alexa doesn’t respect me hahaha.
My husband will tell her to do something and she’ll listen. I swear to god I have to yell at her to get anything done. My white noise will just turn off. And then she’ll start playing spotify instead of the sleep sounds. And neither of us have told her to play spotify – and he can’t be doing it behind my back because he doesn’t have it on his phone lol. She’s just such a sass monster to me in comparison. Though I think it’s partially because he has a muchhhhh deeper, louder voice than I do. I’m pretty high pitched in comparison, and it doesn’t carry as well as his does.
I don’t know. I LIKE my Alexa for the most part. I’m not particularly concerned about targeted ads or anything like that because quite frankly I’d rather see ads that interest me.
Went to lunch with my friend, had the phone on the table. She talked about peri menopause- which I had never heard of before. Never googled anything about it.
That afternoon, I was reading an unrelated article on my phone and the ads were for supplements to help with peri menopause.
The phones are definitely listening.
I turn mine off a lot more now.
How is this not illegal?
We need to go back to electing representatives that are not owned by big money corporations. (If we ever really did)
“How is this not illegal?”
This is exactly what the government wants. It’s exactly what Edward Snowden was warning us about.
Anyone not questioning what is going on with smart devices and the companies that gather their data hasn’t been paying attention.
The husband wanted to put in the Nest thermostat. Turns out that it actually keeps track of every time a person walks by it and lets Google know your movements, your Siri type devices frequently record whether you’ve used the wake word or not, all under the guise of improving user interface.
And like all businesses that require regulating, big contributions to elected officials keeps it from happening in any meaningful way. Folks ought to have more understanding of the information they’re giving away.
Exactly Robin. I find it hard to believe people are shocked when those same people use social media all day everyday lol. Or pay bills, or shop or (heaven forbid) answer tons of surveys. I love all of it however. My marketing, advertising and journalism studies foreshadowed this life back in the early 90s and I couldn’t wait for it.
Just be smart about it ladies! Companies knowing what interests you can be a good thing and fun, just reign in any information about yourself you’d rather keep private. You have to imagine that the internet can be that awesome friend as well as a nosy duplicitous b+tch so treat it as such. Don’t give it everything it wants. Change up information. Lie about birthdays lol! Use revolving passwords. Always update. Clean devices. Do all this frequently, and then realize you’re still ‘out there,’ and need to be safe just like you do in real life (be aware, park near lights, keep your purse hung around your body, use car/home alarms, lock doors, etc etc etc). Safely living online is no different than safely living out and about town.
The tech companies don’t even have to make big contributions, the government forced this on them with the PRISM project. Left alone, the tech companies probably wouldn’t be so heavy handed with privacy invasion, but they have to feed data to PRISM. They’re supposed to be keyed into particular search words (like murder, or attack), but there is no way to find those terms without combing through absolutely everything from everyone. If you have a computer or smart phone, assume the government knows everything about you. Our privacy is already gone. Targeted ads are just how the tech companies monetized something they were forced into doing anyway.
Precisely Algernon. This road was paved a long time ago, and companies are simply collating the data already required to obtain in order to reach consumers in more focused and targeted ways. Decades ago, stores kept customer cards to inform them of buying preferences, personal information, etc. for more personalized services. Now we’re simply digitized clients, and attention to detail grows and changes right alongside us living our lives. The major problem I see is that consumers aren’t thinking this way and become alarmed and afraid. If you know, your online behavior is more subtle and non-conclusive.
I’m with her! I will keep my land line, thanks very much. and my home dumb as a sack of nails for as long as I can. I fought against the ‘smart meter’….and I can be one of those folks using the most power in the downtime, so they want to know about me. I’ll decide what’s in my fridge. And in terms of ads, because I’m ADHD, I am (self) trained to ignore pop-ups, because otherwise down the rabbit hole I’ll fall. … and what’s the point of my meds if I’m down a rabbit hole???? Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ve made a conscious choice to remain ‘stupid’ LOL!!
If “evil” is also stupid, yeah.
Her attitude toward tech reminds me of my younger son. He’s 18 now and is glued to his iphone like most teenagers but he’s wary. When he was little, we were stuck in traffic on the expressway and I noticed he was gazing at this billboard with an ad from AT&T, I think. It had an image of a cell tower, if I remember correctly. I asked him what he was looking at and he burst into tears and said “It just feels like robots are going to take over the world.” It sure does.
It’s alarming think about how many jobs will be lost. I recently heard a radio piece about how in the face of the looming explosion of the aging population, robots are being developed/trained/programmed to become caregivers for the elderly. So sad.
Yes, I really believe Robots will at some point take over the world. Humans are dumb. We are currently creating the very thing that will destroy us one day. So many jobs will be lost…but not only that…at some point Robots won’t need humans anymore and will get rid of us. It’s just a matter of time.
How come that Chucky doll looks so harmless. Also. I know Audrey is not Meg Tilly. I can actually picture Meg Tilly in my mind completely separately from Audrey. I loved Meg Tilly in all her incarnations during all the Childs Play movies. I even have short videos of the best parts of some of the Childs Play movies on my cell. & they all feature Meg Tilly. But. Man. Audrey sure looks like a younger Meg Tilly in those photos up there.
Excuse me. Aubrey.
Jennifer Tilly, Meg’s sister, was in the Child’s Play movies, not Meg. She was great – that baby-doll voice and gun-moll look worked perfectly to create a villain girlfriend for Chucky!
Lol. Excuse me. Jennifer.
I’m an acupuncturist and I have my phone on airplane mode when I do intake. It’s also in a closet with my purse and other personal items, but still.
I suggest to patients that they turn their phone off or at the very least put it on airplane mode. Some do, some don’t. But I really would not want to talk about my personal and health issues for the edification of google, Siri, Alexa, and who the he// else is “listening” in on the intake. I don’t understand why all patients don’t agree. Up to the patient, but….
Dude, I’m no Ron Swanson, but I am so on board with this. My mother in law got us an Echo for Christmas and I’m not sure it’s ever been turned on. I just don’t want strangers listening to me! I don’t want data collected on my life! It’s terrifying to me.
I don’t have a real issue with their robot voice, but I have a hard time speaking to inanimate objects. It feels stupid and lazy unless you are driving for hands free purposes. My boyfriend got Alexa lights that you talk to and they don’t work half the time.
Alexa is making people more lazy. Unless you have a physical disability, there is no reason you can’t get up and turn the lights on/off, etc. It’s just insane. All this technology is not good for us. Even having your wi-fi on in your house 24/7 is horrible to do…just look up the effects of wi-fi on kids and even adults.
My husband brought home an Alexa. I was watching TV and it must have heard some key word and started playing music. I’d never said “Alexa …” so it was always listening, even when not requested. It was also connected to my husband’s phone and he got a notification that I was listening to whatever song started playing. I made him get rid of it.
Oh and our phones definitely spy on us. A co-worker and I were talking about balloons, something very random that I would never search for or would be suggested by Facebook data, yet, not an hour later, I was getting ads for balloons on Instagram. There have been many instances like that. It’s scary.
I’m paranoid already, and technology being unchecked is making me even more paranoid. I’m glad I’m not the only one.
As a woman, I am already scared over being doxxed by some random asshole on the Internet if I say something the web considers heinous, like saying rapists and pedophiles are monsters. I don’t need more paranoia on top of that, yet privacy is slowly becoming a thing of the past.
Is there an alternative to Gmail, btw? I don’t use Google’s search engine anymore (I use DuckDuckGo), but I can’t find a replacement for Gmail.
Try protonmail. It’s a free email service that encrypts messages.