I don't have a new phone, do I?

[darkoshi]

Hah. Here's something funny to try. On your phone, start a comment, and using the predictive text feature (assuming your phone does that), keep clicking on the middle word.
Mine went like this:

Thanks for the update and for the record I have a new phone and I don't want to be a part of the team and I will be there at the same time I don't have a new phone and I will be there at the same time I don't have a new phone and I will be there at the same time

Alternately, you can randomly hit any of the suggested words each time, or hit them in a certain pattern, and see what comes out.

Comments

[redsixwing]

I will be there at the same time I don't think he will be there at the same time I don't think he will be there at...

...you'd think I go to meetings or something. /g

[darkoshi]

Well, my word predictions weren't based on my own history as I don't think I've ever texted anyone about having or not having a new phone :)

[redsixwing]

It makes me wonder where they /do/ come from. (Although it's a bit less creepy than trying to predict based on my actual word usage, hah.)

[darkoshi]

I've wondered if the phone uploads each word entered to a server, to get suggestions for the next word. That would be awful for data privacy. So I hope it's using a program internal to the phone.

Now I've checked the Keyboard settings perhaps for the first time, and found these options under "Settings - Language & input - Gboard", which can be turned on or off:

Text Correction - Next-word suggestions: Use the previous word in making suggestions

Text Correction - Personalized suggestions: Learn from Google apps and services and your typed data to improve suggestions

Advanced - Share snippets: Automatically share snippets of what and how you type in Google apps to improve Gboard

[redsixwing]

So I did some digging around. (And seriously, the decision to have all this stuff wide open burns my biscuits. Defaults should NOT be open, but I suspect I'm losing that battle.)

It looks like predictive text (which is those personalized suggestions, as well as possibly Android's text correction) does use a cloud service and a stored user dictionary to work at all. As you point out, this is awful for privacy.

I've opted to keep mine on despite the privacy awful, but if someone were, say, using E2E messaging services, it would be a useful side channel to pursue their predictive text entries instead of trying to take on WhatsApp or Signal head on.

[randomdreams]

I've made a few sentences this way, but never run across one that got caught in a loop. Then again, I chose the first word to run with.