Nope, we are definitely not paranoid: Google has probably been recording what you say around it, and could have been doing so for years. Don’t believe us? Head to Google history’s Voice & Audio Activity page and listen to all those recordings for yourself. The company has a specific audio page and another to show you everywhere Google has a record of you being on the internet. If you’re feeling like those blackmail victims from the movies who all of a sudden hear their embarrassing recordings echoing in the room, then rejoice. Because the snooping search engine has graciously granted you the ability to delete them by selecting specific recordings or deleting everything in one go. The recordings were taken ostensibly to improve people’s ability to search with their voice and help Google improve its language recognition tools as well as the results that it gives to people, The Independent reports. If you value your privacy more than having a voice assistant on your Android, you can opt out by turning off the assistant.

And while we’re on privacy, let’s draw your attention to El Face, which has recently enabled users to opt out of the targeted ads system that it generates by monitoring your activities on the internet. Yes, Facebook monitors your activities on the whole internet, even if you do not have an account, in part through integrations in websites and apps. In the past, the social media platform has allowed users to opt out of letting Facebook track your behavior across the web to decide what kind of ads you see, but not whether your actions on Facebook inform the ads you see. This new feature would let you do both. If you are a Facebook user, you can take advantage of this here. If not, you can follow the steps outlined by Wired.

…Tech giants monitoring your data and selling it to advertisers is not new. Both Google and Facebook have faced massive backlash throughout their history over privacy concerns. But thanks to a new privacy-centric culture that is taking shape after the Snowden leaks, tech companies have read the writing on the wall (no pun intended) and have pushed to accommodate those concerns. Whatsapp and Viber have enabled end-to-end encryption of chats and voice messaging. Apple took its famous stand for privacy against the FBI. And contrary to their policies early on, it would appear that Google and Facebook are now letting people know when they take their data and have provided them with the choice to opt out.