Google Creepiness Example 587

A couple weeks back, I bought a new cellphone. This was after the battery died on my old phone from 2019. I took the phone to a local shop to try to get the battery replaced, but despite a valiant attempt at the replacement, the phone was moribund and I ended up spending $160 to acquire a 2023 Moto Power 5G running Android 13. I have not put many apps on the phone to date, and don’t plan to load it up much.

The other day I opened my phone to a notification giving me a tour of the new features these days in Android. Google is now pushing their Gemini AI chatbot technology as much as possible. I have tried to disable Gemini as far as I can on my phone, but I’m sure it will creep back. Anyway, the first slide of this tour was about Gemini, and the slide suggested Gemini would be helpful in finding interesting places to check out in Barcelona, specifically in the Gràcia district. Um. This is all too close to my current interests to be a coincidence. I don’t think Google knows I currently have two books checked out on Barcelona from the public library, since libraries are extremely good about keeping patron information private, but on June 29 I did watch an Easy Catalan video entitled Barcelona’s Neighborhoods: Gràcia. (I know the date because I’m keeping a log of my Catalan input). I try my best to keep Google off my trail, but this is obviously quite hard to do.