First off, let me say up front that I am NOT wearing an aluminum helmet as I write this. And our windows are not covered with foil to keep mind-controlling radio waves out.
But sometimes weird coincidences happen, especially with our cell phones.
I was sitting in a Sunday morning class on the topic of ‘hope’ at our church a few weeks ago, listening to a lesson presented by Chad Hellman, Ph.D., a University of Oklahoma professor and co-author of the excellent book “Hope Rising: How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life.”
Dr. Hellman discussed subjects like how childhood trauma impacts the future lives of children, and how pursuing “hope” as he defined it can help people — young and old — set goals and achieve them as they pursue a better life.
My wife, Paula, was seated next to me, and near the end of Dr. Hellman’s presentation she got a text alert from Apple news on her phone. It promoted an article on the order of “12 steps you can take for a happier life.”
Paula showed me the alert on her phone’s screen and whispered “they’re listening.”
We both smiled at the irony.
But it’s happened before. We’ve been in the car on trips having conversations on some topic when ads served up by Facebook on our phones eerily matched the subject.
Cue the Twilight Zone theme.
If you search “is my phone tracking my conversation” online, dozens of articles will pop up on the subject, including this one from the Washington Post that seeks to quell our fear.
Here’s the bottom line based on interviews with experts:
“It’s an old wives’ tale,” said Eric Seufert, who founded the marketing consultancy Heracles Media and runs a popular blog for app developers. “It’s this kind of mythical, horrific, but ultimately untrue, fear.’
‘The short answer is: No, your phone isn’t listening. But why is this rumor so hard to shake?’
Other articles take the possibility more seriously that conversations are being tracked by our phones, including this one from Fox News headlined: “You are not paranoid: your phone really is listening in.”
So, it’s a mixed bag of believers and skeptics. I only know from my own experience like the one during Dr. Hellman’s presentation on a Sunday morning.
Excuse me while I go look for some aluminum foil.
Jim Stafford's BlogOKC 
A couple of years ago, I was on a obscure Caribbean island and sent a pic of the beach to a friend in OKC . Twenty minutes later after receiving my message, she said she received a discount offer from a hotel that was in the photo. I had not referenced the hotel in my message. You cannot hide 😩