Just today, my husband and I were discussing 401Ks and paying off a home mortgage while driving to the hardware store. My phone was, as always, tucked into my purse. We parked the car and entered the store — minutes of that conversation — and I opened Facebook on my phone to pass the time while my husband perused the hardware aisle. Imagine my surprise when the first thing I saw was a sponsored post entitled, “Forget About Your 401K. Here’s a Better Way to Pay Off Your Mortgage.” Coincidence? Turns out it’s not. My daughter had just told me about a conversation she had with a friend about a clothing brand. Within seconds of that conversation, a sponsored Instagram post appeared from that very same brand. I thought, there’s no way this is happening. Then I started to read article after article about how when an app has access to your phone’s microphone it can listen in to your private conversations. Whaaaaaat? Square’s policy states you have to enable microphone access to use their product. My question? How much money has Square made off of us users by selling our private conversations to advertisers?????
