Try this creepy as hell Google glitch now on your phone before it's fixed
Need further proof that the technology is watching your every move in order to know its enemy before taking over the world via blackmail?
Reddit recently discovered an Android glitch that spits back a user's recent texts when they search a certain phrase -- specifically, "the1975..com" -- in the Google Search app or Google Assistant. Other users reported a similar result after searching "Vizel viagens," "Izela viagens, and "Zela viagens."
While the issue was originally found on the Pixel, other androids users on OnePlus, Samsung, LG, and Huawei phones experienced the same glitch.
This weird Google glitch might not be that dramatic. But considering recent news on just how much tech companies know about you (not to mention Westworld and Black Mirror's horrifying imaginings of what that data could amount to in the future), it's at the very least unsettling.
Google Assistant is equipped with a hands-free feature that recognizes the command to show previous or current text messages (provided it has permission). That seems to be the root of this problem.
A Google spokesperson told Mashable that it's fixing what it calls a "language detection bug," where these phrases are getting "erroneously interpreted as a request to view recent text messages."
Sure, sure. Or it's the robots orchestrating personal attacks to shame us for A) typing nonsense typos into a search bar, and B) drunk texting Craig for a booty call last night.
According to Gizmodo, the so-called "the1975..com" bug even goes beyond just the Google Search app, also affecting Google Assistant and other Android widgets powered by the search engine's algorithm. Luckily, this creepy, overly familiar bug can be deactivated by disabling the privacy setting that gives the Google Assistant permission to view text messages.
If you want to checkout the bug for yourself, act quick. Because per the Google spokesperson, "A fix for this bug has been implemented and will roll out over the next few days."
UPDATE: June 2, 2018, 11:35 a.m. PDT Full statement from Google added
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
