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Episode 55: This week we discuss why some people believe that their devices are always watching or listening to them. Oh, and whether or not it's true. Companies are finding more creative ways to target ads and content and consumers are consenting every day. But what are they consenting to?

Uber, realizing it had hundreds of millions of people in its back seats as a captive audience, just announced it will allow third-party apps the ability to serve up notifications, content, or ads to its users during their trips. The notifications would be customized to the length and locations of each person's ride, but only with permission from the user.

"Just one day after WhatsApp revealed a sea-change in its attitude to user data, by detailing plans to share the mobile numbers and last seen status of its users with parent company Facebook for ad-targeting and marketing purposes, the UK's data protection watchdog has fired a warning shot across Zuckerberg's bows by announcing it intends to investigate the arrangement"

"Amazon objects to over-broad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course," the company said in a statement. Even without Amazon's help, police may be able to crack into the Echo, according to the warrant"

"Tripling as a feat of engineering, a social commentary on homelessness, and an interactive puppet show, [Ables] causes us to pause on the issue of homelessness and human-robot interaction. For a more whimsical interaction, a robot ball that follows you around is a pleasant way to get used to the presence of robots in society."

"57.10 Acceptable Use; Safety-Critical Systems. Your use of the Lumberyard Materials must comply with the AWS Acceptable Use Policy. The Lumberyard Materials are not intended for use with life-critical or safety-critical systems, such as use in operation of medical equipment, automated transportation systems, autonomous vehicles, aircraft or air traffic control, nuclear facilities, manned spacecraft, or military use in connection with live combat. However, this restriction will not apply in the event of the occurrence (certified by the United States Centers for Disease Control or successor body) of a widespread viral infection transmitted via bites or contact with bodily fluids that causes human corpses to reanimate and seek to consume living human flesh, blood, brain or nerve tissue and is likely to result in the fall of organized civilization."

"At the end of last year, between 21st November and 19th December, Transport for London carried out an intriguing trial: It was going to track your phone on the London Underground. Today, thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, Gizmodo UK can exclusively reveal some of the utterly fascinating findings that the agency has been able to make from all of our data "

A growing trend in electronics is to have them integrate with your home network in order to provide potentially useful features like automatic updates or to extend the usefulness of existing technologies such as door locks you can open and close from anywhere in the world.

"Sites such as Mozilla Webmaker, Trovebox and Voost use Persona instead of usernames to sign you in. This means you only need one password to sign in to many sites."

"Smartphone users are always looking for free wi-fi but at what price does it come? Businesses are looking at ways to make the free wi-fi they offer work for them too. It can track our movements through our phones and reveal a great deal about us to those who have something to sell. "

"We've discussed the stupidity of privacy policies many times in the past. Honestly, it's an idea that serves no useful purpose, yet most sites are required to have one, and if you don't, people get all upset. But no one reads them, and most people incorrectly assume that if a site has any privacy policy, they must keep data private. "

"Imagine buying an internet-enabled surveillance camera, network attached storage device, or home automation gizmo, only to find that it secretly and constantly phones home to a vast peer-to-peer (P2P) network run by the Chinese manufacturer of the hardware. Now imagine that the geek gear you bought doesn't actually let you block this P2P communication without some serious networking expertise or hardware surgery that few users would attempt."

Coca-Cola, Hyundai, Samsung and L'Oréal have all signed up to the new screen, which can recognise vehicle make, model and colour to target adverts

"Toyota takes Twitter emoji ad targeting to the next level with 83 unique videos designed to match a person's online mood. The effort, by Saatchi & Saatchi L.A., is part of a broader campaign for the 2018 Camry called "Sensations" that seeks to raise the emotional appeal of the midsize sedan, which is often viewed in a more practical, economical light."

Say you're scrolling through your Facebook Newsfeed and you encounter an ad so eerily well-suited, it seems someone has possibly read your brain. Maybe your mother's birthday is coming up, and Facebook's showing ads for her local florist. Or maybe you just made a joke aloud about wanting a Jeep, and Instagram's promoting Chrysler dealerships. Whatever the subject, you've seen ads like this. You've wondered - maybe worried - how they found their way to you.

In support of our mission to benefit people and society, the Partnership on AI intends to conduct research, organize discussions, share insights, provide thought leadership, consult with relevant third parties, respond to questions from the public and media, and create educational material that advances the understanding of AI technologies including machine perception, learning, and automated reasoning.

"As technology-especially computer, information, and Internet technology-permeates all aspects of our society, people who understand that technology need to be part of public-policy discussions. We need technologists who work in the public interest. We need public-interest technologists. Defining this term is difficult. One Ford Foundation blog post described public-interest technologists as "technology practitioners who focus on social justice, the common good, and/or the public interest." A group of academics in this field wrote that "public-interest technology refers to the study and application of technology expertise to advance the public interest/generate public benefits/promote the public good.""

Project Liberty seeks to accelerate the world's transition to an open, inclusive data economy that puts citizens in control. At the core is a shift from centralized to decentralized-a future in which all people, not just the few, directly benefit from their participation and contribution.

"Dropbox is "proposing to copy the keys to your house, move in and live with you.""

Domino's pizza-company is about to test out a new feature in Australia, one that flips the script of allowing customers to track a pizza that's being delivered. Now the company wants track customers