This happens to me all the time. What really bothers me is that it often happens in ways that deeply disturb me. For instance, last year, I was at my mother's house, talking to my brother about mistletoe and druids. Don't ask why - I literally don't remember the actual conversation, but it was VERY specific.

Later that night, an ad popped up for a book on Amazon with the words "mistletoe" and "druid" in the title

I freaked out because I HAD NOT BEEN ONLINE when we had that conversation or done any searches or anything to inspire this ad popping up.

There are only two possibilities: 1) My phone was in my pocket at the time. Are the rumors true that companies are tracking our conversations with our phone mics and using them to target ads for us?

2) My mom has an Echo unit in that room of the house, and I've been told that those devices learn to recognize the voices that commonly appear, even if they do not live in that household or are not linked to a user's account. Did the Echo hear me and trace me through my mom's account? That's even scarier to me.