Gransnet forums

Technology

Big Brother or what?

(41 Posts)
Daddima Wed 17-Oct-18 22:27:26

Now, I have a new phone. Tonight I used it from my son’s to order a takeaway, and when I keyed in the number it displayed the establishment I was calling. I was impressed.

Then, on the way home, I stopped at our local Co-op, and when I arrived home there was a message saying, “ How was your experience at local Co-op?”

Now, I’m sure none of my activities would be of interest to anyone, but do things like this make anyone else a wee bit uneasy?

Freakyintel Fri 19-Oct-18 13:34:44

This is not something you should be scared of i think.
Its not like somebody is watching you like some creepy old man.
The thing that is happening is your phones automatic navigation is watching where you are, obviously you can turn that off. But if you don't then you're just going to keep getting notifications like that. Also you can just turn off those notifications.

Rufus2 Fri 19-Oct-18 09:36:46

I turned it off JenniferEccles (is this the future?)
Jalima; Naughty girl! wink Have you jumped the gun and been at the Shiraz already? You posted mid-afternoon. Perhaps you'd had another hard day's shopping! I can't work out what point you're trying to make; not cupcakes?
Our No.2 supermarket chain is advertising DIY cup cake mixture; looks easy, so I might give it a go. Wish me luck. grin

Kim19 Fri 19-Oct-18 09:19:53

Thanks LBC. Trouble is I can't even master the few I need but I get you. I have something similar with my washing machine.......

Cherrytree59 Thu 18-Oct-18 22:11:38

Lynnebo
Agree its horrible to be locked in a car especially as you had a toddler with you.

Years ago (before I had a mobile phone) I was locked by mistake in my cousins car.
It was a very hot day in New Jersey.
She was only gone about 20 mins but I was quite close to passing out.
A very unpleasant experience.?

Apparently to escape from a locked car remove headrest and use the metal leg fittings to break car window.

Grandad1943 Thu 18-Oct-18 21:07:19

Legs55 There are two wifi devises we find wonderful to have. The first would be the central heating linked to an app on our phones. As we are both still working (in the same offices), we can never be sure what time we will be home either together or separately. The app on our phones allows us to turn on the heating remotely as we leave work, so the house is warm when we arrive home.

We have also fitted out the house with wifi lighting which can also be operated from a phone app, Alexa or Google Home speakers. Individual lights can be operated remotely individually or as room groups. However, the best of that would be that you can get into bed last thing at night and say to the Alexa speaker "all lights off", and all the lights go out all over the house, inside and out

No more going around what is quite a large house switching everything off when you are dead tired and just want to hit the sack.

Great stuff.

petra Thu 18-Oct-18 20:02:45

If in doubt that 'big brother' aka, google, Facebook etc are/aren't listing to your conversations, go on to YouTube and search Is your smart phone listening into your conversations
There is concrete proof there. Not that I needed it as I and my family have 'tested' the theory ourselves.

Legs55 Thu 18-Oct-18 16:57:42

I don't mind that Google knows where I am/where I've been, as I am a widow it would allow tracking of my movements should something happen to me. I do switch off wi-fi when I'm going shopping.

Big Brother is here to stay. I will not have Alexa or any of the others in my house & I certainly don't need a gadget to turn on my heating, kettle, whatever

B9exchange Thu 18-Oct-18 15:38:04

apologies, paranoid, not paranoic, fat fingers!

B9exchange Thu 18-Oct-18 15:37:03

It is easy enough to turn off location detection, so I use a smartphone, but with the camera covered up. You can get little stick on devices that slide over the lens. I don't fancy giving hackers or MI5/6 the easy opportunity to watch me. Seems extreme, I worried when my son said he had done this a few years ago that he was getting paranoic, but www.rt.com/uk/319277-gchq-hack-smartphone-law/ gives you an idea of what is now possible. I do not want a 'smart' home, with all my appliances connected to IoT (Internet of Things) and hence able to be hacked into and switched off at a hacker or foreign government's whim. I don't want a burglar to be able to see when I am in and what I am doing.

For our grandchildren privacy will seem a strange concept, but I will try to keep mine as long as possible!

GabriellaG Thu 18-Oct-18 15:35:59

Daddima
If it was an email, yes, if a text, no.
I'm assuming you ported your number to your new phone IF you changed provider.
That means the SIM card can only receive texts in the phone with the SIM in it but emails can go to your email address via WiFi on any mobile with or without a SIM.
On the other hand, if you have a new number, only emails would go to either/both phones, not texts only to the one with SIM in.
I take it that your old one is a PAYG as you say you have credit on it. That said, emails would be on both, texts only on the one registered.confused

Lilyflower Thu 18-Oct-18 15:24:01

When I mislaid my iPhone my iPad told me where it was.

Grandad1943 Thu 18-Oct-18 13:55:51

I always purchase Google Android phones and yesterday Google, and that phone saved me from the chaos that erupted on rail services into Paddington London.

I had booked a ticket on the 06:30am service from North Somerset. Google having that knowledge, informed me personally at 6:00am on my phone of the problems and therefore saved me from even making the journey to the station.

This morning I have been to Bristol to visit a customer, and I always use Google navigation on my phone as that is far better than the inbuilt sat nav in the car.

As I left the customers premises to return to the office, Google informed me of severe delays on the route I would have taken and diverted me away from the traffic jams that were affecting the whole area.

Therefore in two days Google with its location information and purchase knowledge have saved me many hours that would have been wasted in useless travel time.

Not everybody would appreciate being tracked as above, but it does have its very real advantages if you switch on location awareness and allow that to combine with search/purchase knowledge.

Great stuff I feel, as through that I have even managed to get a break in the day to post this. wink

lovebeigecardigans1955 Thu 18-Oct-18 13:15:09

I feel for you Kim19, I really do. I only buy new items when it becomes necessary. There are 22 'things' on my mobile but I only use 8 of them - the rest are superfluous to requirements as far as I'm concerned.

Lynnebo Thu 18-Oct-18 13:09:22

Thank you @sweetcakes ! x

NanaMacGeek Thu 18-Oct-18 12:57:33

I've thought about this a bit more. While GPS allows internet giants like Google and Apple to track the whereabouts of your phone, a different mechanism is being used for the technology in a store to be able to identify a customer's mobile phone and send a message to it. So, don't just turn off your GPS/location services but turn off your WiFi as well.

In fact, I've always maintained it is good practice to use your smartphone with GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and mobile data turned off. I only turn these on when I need them. Not only does this make you very difficult to track, but it helps to preserve your battery life too. (Your mobile phone provider can still send phone calls and SMS messages to you.)

I'm sorry so many struggle with technology, it has its uses for good and bad. My advice to my customers is always to just concentrate on trying to carry out a single task at a time. Start by working out how to add a contact and to make and answer a call. The move on to the next topic that you think you will need. Most mobile phone shops will talk you through a task and YouTube can show you how to make changes.

sweetcakes Thu 18-Oct-18 12:13:25

GabriellaG.
I do apologise for the mistake in spelling brake when I should have spelt it break.

Happysexagenarian Thu 18-Oct-18 12:00:03

Last Christmas DH opened his gift from me and was delighted, and then said he had known what I had bought him. I asked how he knew, he was out when it was delivered and it was very well hidden. He said he'd had a message on his phone one day telling him where I was shopping, he immediately knew what I was buying! Sometimes I don't like my smartphone hmm

sweetcakes Thu 18-Oct-18 11:51:28

Lynnebo you don't need to buy a gadget to brake a window in your car the front headrests will do that, slip it out the back of the chair and the metal spikes will do the job for you.

stree Thu 18-Oct-18 11:49:55

I always get the latest model phone when they have been out about a year, as do my Wife and Daughter
Our Son gets the latest model even before they are in the shop!
There is a good reason for this, he is a regional technical manager for the manufacturer ( No names, best not) and gets all models to field test and report on and can do what he wishes with them once done with them apart from sell them, giving to family and friends is fine.
Of course this also means we have direct 24 hr access to this senior tech manager to sort out and set up our phones.
One aspect of modern tech life made easy!

mabon1 Thu 18-Oct-18 11:41:26

Torn off the GPS. if you can't do it then ask the retailker to do it for you.

MiniMoon Thu 18-Oct-18 11:40:37

DH's mobile is as old as the hills! He purchased a new "smartphone" three weeks ago but is afraid of it. He won't even charge it. DD and I have been asking him to charge it since he bought it. Now I'm wondering why he spent all that money for something he is not using.confusedangry

harrigran Thu 18-Oct-18 11:35:05

Happened to me, phone told everyone that harri was in the Aston Martin showroom, I wasn't, I was having lunch in the hotel nearby. Text from DS " what are you doing "? I think he thought I was blowing his inheritance.

CardiffJaguar Thu 18-Oct-18 11:32:58

Clearly there are some benefits from owning a smart phone and that is for those who perceive it. Yet overall I believe there are more downsides and some will only become clear with the passage of time.

I have a simple mobile that I keep just for emergencies. My wife has a slightly better one and both of us are not interested in changing to a smart variety. Technology is changing so much around us and our lives without the full implications becoming apparent. I believe in progress and technology is producing much that will help us now and in the future if only we can understand and control what is happening to us.

oldgaijin Thu 18-Oct-18 11:22:31

I keep my GPS turned on as I live alone and when I was rushed in to hospital, it's how my daughter, who lives 500 miles away, found out. Imagine my surprise when she appeared at my bedside.

David1968 Thu 18-Oct-18 11:15:47

All of this is why we don't have an "Alexa" or similar....
And our car has a "proper" key & "old fashioned" locking! I'm deeply mistrustful of some of the modern technology.