ON COMPUTERS

User's privacy still at risk when using voice searches

Why are they all spying on us? It's because they want to sell us stuff.

The "they" we're talking about are Google, Amazon and Apple. They record you when you use the microphone on your cellphone or computer. It also happens when you talk to one of your smart speakers, like Amazon's Echo or Google Home.

We tap the microphone symbol when conducting searches on our phone. We can ask for a Chinese restaurant nearby faster than we can type it. These days everybody delivers.

We've written before that we don't care what gets recorded. Our conversations are beyond boring. A reader wrote that he agreed but was still bothered by it. He felt that what he had to say was also boring but he thinks big businesses may find a way to take advantage.

We can't expect to get services for free. If the search engines are going to find things for us, it's only natural they would want to advertise similar products. People worry that their insurance rates might go up if Google sells their data. But Google, which is by far the leading search service, says it does not sell users' information.

Even if you restrict the data collection, you'll still get ads, but they will usually be off-base. One reader turned off all personalization options when he got his Android phone. He still gets annoying ads. One is from a law firm looking for clients who want to sue someone. He also gets political ads.

If it bothers you to be recorded when you press the mic icon, keep in mind that it's not just the Google search engine. If your TV takes voice commands, these are also being recorded.

If you have privacy concerns, here's how to stop Google from storing your voice: Search on the phrase "Manage your Google account." Click on the first result that comes back. Choose "Manage your data and personalization." Look for "Activity controls." Now look for "Web and App activity." Uncheck the box next to "include voice and audio recordings." If you click "manage activity," you'll get a chance to delete all the recordings they have.

You might think that using Chrome's "incognito mode" or "private browsing" in Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox would be enough to shield you from prying eyes. But you can still be tracked. The difference is that nothing is saved on your local machine.

RENTAL SCAM

In a Vice.com article, "I Accidentally Uncovered a Nationwide Scam on Airbnb," a woman says she was told at the last minute that her Airbnb room was unavailable but there was another one three times bigger. She was forced to make a decision on the phone, so she said yes. The place looked grimy, like a flophouse. They forced her to move out the next day, which might have been OK but she only got a third of her original payment back: $399 instead of $1,221. It was part of a nationwide scam involving eight cities and nearly 100 properties, using fake reviews and intimidation.

BOOKS

The Impossible Fortress, by Jason Rekulak, is a hilarious techie/caper novel set in the 1980s. In it, a man and woman try to win a video game contest. You can play a game similar to the one in the story at the author's website, JasonRekulak.com.

WTF? What's the Future and Why It's Up to Us, by Tim O'Reilly, founder of O'Reilly Press, says we don't have to be afraid that robots will take our jobs. We'll have more rewarding occupations than they will. If you want to look at the future, he says, look at what rich people do today. They're the leisure pioneers. For instance, a car phone used to be a marvel, but now most people carry one. Travel and dining out used to be a luxury activity. Now it's common.

BOOK RETURN

Joy loves Audible.com, an audiobook service for $15 a month. But sometimes she chooses the wrong book. What to do?

You can return a book and get your credit back. Go to Audible.com on your computer. Next to your name, click the drop-down arrow and choose "Account Details." Then click "Purchase History." You can exchange any book that has the word "Exchange" next to it.

Bob and Joy Schwabach can be reached by email at bobschwab@gmail.com and joy.schwabach@gmail.com.

Business on 01/18/2020

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