VOA慢速英语2016--你的手机或正在监听你

Your Phone Might Be Listening to You 你的手机或正在监听你

A recent piece of audience mail expressed concern about the “listening” capability¹ of smart phones.

The writer said she had been planning a funeral and searched on Google for funeral homes. She typed "f-u-n-e-r-a" and Google suggested funeral homes near her as well as other funeral-related websites.

Just then, a friend called her on her landline phone. The friend suggested that the woman make food called “funeral potatoes” for a gathering² after the service.

After the call ended, the woman returned to her Internet search. She again typed "f-u-n-e-r-a." This time, the first suggestion to appear on Google was “funeral potatoes.”

She called a relative and told him what happened. He thought it was a coincidence. So he experimented.

He typed "f-u-n-e-r-a" into Google. The search suggestions that appeared were funeral, funeral songs, funeral homes near me, and funeral homes.

Then, the man said the words "funeral potatoes" out loud. Then, he re-typed "f-u-n-e-r-a" into Google. Funeral potatoes, funeral and funeral songs appeared.

The woman who wrote about the experience says she and the man had their cell phones in the room with them at the time. It seemed the cell phones had listened to what they were talking about.

Cell phones may indeed be listening to us, even when we are not using them. Stories on the Internet tell of people who got Internet search results or advertisements based on words they said aloud near their cell phones.

When we give an app permission to use our cell phone microphone it is not clear when it is listening to us. There are no signal lights or icons³ that show when the microphone is turned on.

According to the BBC, Google and Facebook deny using voice data for advertising⁴ or other purposes. A Google spokesperson told the BBC that “its listening abilities only extend to activating⁵ its voice services.”

Facebook also told the BBC it does not permit companies to target advertising based around microphone data. And it said it never shares data without permission.

Voice of America Learning English also experimented with an iPhone and an Android. We did not find that search results or ads change based on spoken information.

Testing whether a phone can listen to you

The BBC asked developers if they could create an app that could activate⁶ a phone's microphone secretly and record speech taking place near the phone.

The developers could and did. They told the BBC that the process was "remarkably⁷ easy."

Benefits of tech listening to you

Many services on the Internet are free, such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and other sites. But advertising is sold to pay for these free services.

Apps that listen may be able to provide more helpful search results and ads. But you may not want your phone listening to you.

How to stop your phone from listening to you

Be sure to check the permissions you have given apps to access the microphone on your phone. Some apps need the microphone access to work correctly, but others do not. Never give permission to use your microphone unless the app needs access to it.

Some apps need the microphone for their operations. For example, Shazam, an app that identifies songs being played, must use the phone's microphone. But other apps may not need the microphone so they should not have access to it.

Turn off the microphone for any apps you do not want to have access to your microphone. You may want to turn off microphone access for all of the apps on your phone. If you find an app requiring microphone access you can always turn it back on again.

iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

To make sure apps are not listening to you, turn off microphone access on your iPhone. Go to Settings, then Privacy⁸, then Microphone, to see a list of all of the apps that have asked for permission to use your microphone.

Turn off permission for any apps you do not want using your phone's microphone.

Android phones

Some Android phones let you to see which apps have permission to use your microphone and turn off that permission.

To turn off microphone access, go to Settings, Privacy and Emergency, App permissions, Microphone, to see a list of apps that have permission to use your microphone.

You can also turn the phone's power off or leave the phone in another room to make sure you are not being listened to.

Or you can try a microphone blocking app from the Google Play store. These apps have had mixed reviews.

Words in This Story

funeral - n. a ceremony held for a dead person

coincidence - n. a situation in which events happen at the same time in a way that is not planned or expected

permission - n. the right or ability to do something that is given by someone who has the power to decide if it will be allowed or permitted

microphone - n. a device into which people speak or sing in order to record their voices or to make them sound louder

data - n. facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze⁹, or plan something

remarkable¹⁰ - adj. unusual or surprising

access - n. permission or the right to enter, get near, or make use of something

1 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

5 activating   

活动的，活性的

参考例句：

• "I didn't say we'd got to stop activating the masses! “我并没说就此不发动！ 来自子夜部分
• Presumably both the very small size and activating influence of fluorine atoms contribute to this exception. 这大概是由于氟原子半径小和活性高这两个原因的影响，氟原子对这种例外做出了贡献。

6 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

7 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

8 privacy   

n.私人权利，个人自由，隐私权

参考例句：

• In such matters,privacy is impossible.在这类事情中，保密是不可能的。
• She wept in the privacy of her own room.她在自己房内暗暗落泪。

9 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

10 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。