Phone phrase that automatically activates wiretapping

Cybersecurity expert from Asterix firm - Peter Henway talked about the method of eavesdropping on smartphones through the device's microphone. In his opinion, this happens through the installation of trigger words.

Among the most likely "spies," Henway named Facebook social network services that use mobile device data without the owner's consent. Eavesdropping on a smartphone can be activated by special trigger words.

Most applications request access to the device's microphone, but contrary to popular belief, they do not transmit what they hear to third parties. Recording and processing of data often occurs after trigger words are spoken (for example, "Hey, Siri" and "Okay, Google"). The specialist believes that similar mechanisms may work in other applications as well.

Henway suggested that Facebook* or Instagram* might use thousands of trigger words that launch analysis of the smartphone owner's speech.

For five days, he spoke phrases that could become "hooks" for the spying mechanism. In his case, remarks about studying and buying cheap shirts worked. Unexpectedly, advertising offers from various educational institutions and inexpensive clothing began to appear in his news feed.

Henway expressed confidence that no company sells the collected data directly to advertisers, but processes it themselves. Additionally, he assured that the information is rather useless for intelligence agencies and is mainly used for targeting advertisements.