# Okay, my new phone is freaking me the hell out. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514 "2014-12-06T18:27:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/1 "2014-12-06T18:27:33Z")
With out asking it to, my phone basically tells me how long my drive time is from work to home. Well gee, that sure is nifty. Just a few minutes ago I ordered a pizza from Pizza Hut online. I ordered it on my TV computer NOT my phone. I just picked up my phone to check for messages (unrelated to Pizza Hut.) and right there on the pull down menu reads: _Drive time to Pizza Hut 9min_:eek: WTF?! I’m not sure I’m comfortable with my phone knowing so much about me. Does it know my masturbation habits as well? I feel like I’m being stalked by my own phone! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/2 "2014-12-06T18:30:59Z")
What does your phone think of this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/3 "2014-12-06T18:35:45Z")
Modern smart phones are like stalkerish exes. Don’t let it know where you live. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/4 "2014-12-06T20:48:16Z")
Too late! It’s already _inside the house!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/5 "2014-12-06T20:51:27Z")
It’s an android phone, isn’t it? What browser do you use on your computer? If it’s Chrome, then Google knows everything that you did. Even if it’s not, if you use Google as your search engine, and you used that to get to Pizza Hut’s web site, they still have the information. It was a bit freaky the first few times that similar things happened to me, but I’ve gotten used to it. I have fully accepted the fact that our Google Overlords know every move I make…at least I know they won’t be evil 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/6 "2014-12-06T20:53:30Z")
Please leave the house immediately! We have traced the calls and they appear to be coming from a phone in the … hang on a minute. \<_aside\>_ The calls are doing what? ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/7 "2014-12-06T20:59:34Z")
That’s what you get for ordering from Pizza Hut. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/8 "2014-12-06T21:04:17Z")
You’re signed in to your Google account on both devices, so the phone knows what you searched for on the computer. Often kind of handy, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/9 "2014-12-06T21:20:29Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > It’s an android phone, isn’t it? What browser do you use on your computer? If it’s Chrome, then Google knows everything that you did. Even if it’s not, if you use Google as your search engine, and you used that to get to Pizza Hut’s web site, they still have the information. > > It was a bit freaky the first few times that similar things happened to me, but I’ve gotten used to it. I have fully accepted the fact that our Google Overlords know every move I make…at least I know they won’t be evil 🙂 Yup. Freaked me out pretty good until I figured it out. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/10 "2014-12-06T21:22:26Z")
Yeah, I kind of figured if was syncing through my Chrome. Still though… freaky… ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/11 "2014-12-07T00:19:15Z")
Yeah. My android phone knows that I go for Thai food on Thai Tuesday, Sushi on Wednesday, and is pretty good at guessing what bar I might go to after work. It’s impressively creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/12 "2014-12-07T03:28:30Z")
Turn off your Location and it’ll use less battery, potentially less data. But then you won’t know how long it might take you to drive somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/13 "2014-12-07T03:37:18Z")
You can turn off Google pages, or whatever that feature is called. It won’t keep Google from knowing everything you do, but it will prevent them from shoving that fact in your face. 😉 Besides, when I had it on, all it ever told me was stuff I know. How long would it take me to drive home from the office right now – which I already know, and don’t plan to do in the middle of the day anyway. I gather that if you use gmail, it combs through your mail and can add useful stuff, like reminding you that you need to leave NOW if you want to get to the airport on time. Because it saw the confirmation email you got from US Air, and it remembered… But I don’t use gmail, and that is super creepy, so I don’t miss the feature. And yeah, you save a little bit of battery life by turning that stuff off. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/14 "2014-12-07T03:59:47Z")
And if you allow it to sync your contacts across all platforms you may find out more than you expected to learn about a new person. They text you and the phone takes it from there (if you let it). I don’t let it. I don’t even let it touch any photo I take unless I do something w/ that photo manually. It would like you to back them up automatically. Do not allow. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/15 "2014-12-07T04:04:17Z")
You think that’s freaky? What’s freaky is after sending an work email via my work email system to a work contact who I’ve never met in person, and who lives half a continent away (in NYC), said work contact shows up in my Facebook “People you may know” list on my phone, as if I have some social reason to talk to the guy. Haven’t figured that one out yet; the Google stuff makes sense; it’s all integrated, but I didn’t think Facebook had quite such long tentacles. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/16 "2014-12-07T04:06:37Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > Yeah. My android phone knows that I go for Thai food on Thai Tuesday, Sushi on Wednesday,\*\* and is pretty good at guessing what bar I might go to after work.\*\* It’s impressively creepy. Wait until it starts cutting you off. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/17 "2014-12-07T04:42:57Z")
> [@bump](#): > > You think that’s freaky? > > What’s freaky is after sending an work email via my work email system to a work contact who I’ve never met in person, and who lives half a continent away (in NYC), said work contact shows up in my Facebook “People you may know” list on my phone, as if I have some social reason to talk to the guy. > > Haven’t figured that one out yet; the Google stuff makes sense; it’s all integrated, but I didn’t think Facebook had quite such long tentacles. :yikes: That is creepy. Maybe the guy Facebook stalked you? That would at least make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/18 "2014-12-07T15:51:23Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Wait until it starts cutting you off. Naa. It’s hoping I get drunk enough to activate more privacy-removing features on the phone. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/19 "2014-12-07T16:12:41Z")
I had an old landline phone that would ring once every hour or two if it was unplugged. I was about ready to call in a Priest when I realized it was the built-in message/recorder telling me the “power is out”. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514/20 "2014-12-07T23:29:00Z")
not only does it know your location in case you call 911; it knows if you have clean underwear on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-my-new-phone-is-freaking-me-the-hell-out/706514.md?page=2)