I mean shortly after I got my first smartphone I disabled the microphone permissions for most apps.
The day I got the phone, I went to get ice cream with minisprite and mentioned that I liked Ben & Jerry's but they were too expensive to get all the time. Then I got ads for cheaper brands of ice cream that resembled Ben & Jerry's. Then I went to work and told someone I couldn't hear him very well, could he repeat himself, and then I got ads for hearing aids.
So that's when I learned how to disable microphone permissions.
I also keep my Siri turned off, and I don't have an Alexa or anything like that because those things give me the willies. I keep location turned off on my phone too.
I know it's only computers listening, no humans, but that doesn't necessarily make me feel any better
