Iphone text being used for ads

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Jan 8, 2006
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Location
Michigan
I have an iphone 11

I texted (SMS) my neighbor that his a/c condenser unit's fan does not sound right and the condenser probably needs cleaning.
Next day my youtube home page was flooded with a/c condenser cleaning videos, what the text.

I searched through my Iphone > messaging setting and did not find any setting I can turn off to stop the tracking, definitely they are parsing my text
crazy2.gif
 
What apps do you have? Youtube? Facebook? Chrome?

Have to wonder which might be able to access messages.

I thought iMessage was end to end encrypted, but SMS (green box) I guess is not?

Ive not encountered this on mine. Ive seen it in some email programs, where obviously they read your emails to sell ads.
 
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
settings > privacy > advertising

also:

settings > privacy > analytics and improvements


Turn all of that off.


Thanks for that.
grin.gif


Do you know what is the procedure for Android?
 
Originally Posted by user52165
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
settings > privacy > advertising

also:

settings > privacy > analytics and improvements


Turn all of that off.


Thanks for that.
grin.gif


Do you know what is the procedure for Android?


I don't, unfortunately.
 
The wife and I were talking about different cereals the other day, her Iphone was in the room. Neither of us has ever searched or texted or visited any cereal websites that we can think of. We discussed Cinnamon Toast Crunch several times and an hour later she got 2 different ads for Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I am not a fan of technology.
 
Youtube app

Yes, I have set ad tracking off and analytics off

I did some research, apple added "Learn from this app" to all the apps as an option with the last big update. Messaging does NOT have a "Learn from this APP" option.

I used apple SMS app, yes it is supposed to be end to end encrypted but on the phone I bet you they have access to it.
 
Originally Posted by Barkleymut
The wife and I were talking about different cereals the other day, her Iphone was in the room. Neither of us has ever searched or texted or visited any cereal websites that we can think of. We discussed Cinnamon Toast Crunch several times and an hour later she got 2 different ads for Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I am not a fan of technology.


Yeap, turn off siri or siri's access to mic to only when being used. I went and checked and found youtube had access to my mic and I disabled it.

I tested the very scenario while driving, I started to shout "gatorade gatorade, orange gatorage" my kids were like, are you losing it dad :)
 
Also periodically reset the advertising ID under settings > privacy > advertising

Most likely it was from Microphone access as you found out.
Some apps are known to periodically check the clipboard, so be careful what you put on it. I heard iOS 14 will have an option to notify you of who is checking the CB.
 
iPhone:

This can take quite some time if you have a lot of apps, but will help. It will also reduce battery drain a touch.

Go to Settings, scroll way down to the very first app you have. (it's probably right under TV provider)
Select that first app, then select Siri and Search.
You will 3 or 4 options, such as "learn from this app", "show in search" and "show app".
Select all of them off.

Then go to Privacy, and select each subject, (such as contacts) don't select "location services"
Here you can control what apps have access to your contacts, calendar, reminders etc. Select everything off except things you need.

Privacy, location services. Select each app and choose never or while using, as applicable.
 
Last edited:
You are allowing your phone to share data with apps.
Originally Posted by stockrex

I have an iphone 11

I texted (SMS) my neighbor that his a/c condenser unit's fan does not sound right and the condenser probably needs cleaning.
Next day my youtube home page was flooded with a/c condenser cleaning videos, what the text.

I searched through my Iphone > messaging setting and did not find any setting I can turn off to stop the tracking, definitely they are parsing my text
crazy2.gif



I would have to say its the other way around, you are allowing YouTube App access to your information.
 
Originally Posted by alarmguy
You are allowing your phone to share data with apps.
Originally Posted by stockrex

I have an iphone 11

I texted (SMS) my neighbor that his a/c condenser unit's fan does not sound right and the condenser probably needs cleaning.
Next day my youtube home page was flooded with a/c condenser cleaning videos, what the text.

I searched through my Iphone > messaging setting and did not find any setting I can turn off to stop the tracking, definitely they are parsing my text
crazy2.gif



I would have to say its the other way around, you are allowing YouTube App access to your information.


agree, but where is the setting turn off?
 
Originally Posted by stockrex
Originally Posted by alarmguy
You are allowing your phone to share data with apps.
Originally Posted by stockrex

I have an iphone 11

I texted (SMS) my neighbor that his a/c condenser unit's fan does not sound right and the condenser probably needs cleaning.
Next day my youtube home page was flooded with a/c condenser cleaning videos, what the text.

I searched through my Iphone > messaging setting and did not find any setting I can turn off to stop the tracking, definitely they are parsing my text
crazy2.gif



I would have to say its the other way around, you are allowing YouTube App access to your information.


agree, but where is the setting turn off?


Settings > scroll all the way down and you will see your installed Apps, click on the You Tube app and look over the settings, see if there is something to disable access to your contacts.

Next Step to try, Settings> Privacy> Contacts try to see if there is any places in there too limit sharing data with YouTube

Next step, Settings> Privacy> Advertising, see if the slider is clicked to limit ad tracking.

I have to admit, after looking, I am wondering if there is a way or not. There must be.
Almost tempted to download the Youtube App and see. But ... anyway ...
or as one last step, you can delete the app and reinstall it, take notice if it asked permissions for anything that you do not want to give permission for.

There has to be a way, I assume you are using the default Apple messaging app.

Ill be curious if any of this works or if you found a way, if your phone is still new, you could call Apple tech support.
 
Last edited:
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