A recent piece of audience mail expressed concern about the “listening” capability 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 gathering 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.
