“My phone must be listening!”: Peoples’ surveillance beliefs around devices “listening” to offline conversations in the US, the Netherlands, and Poland

Previous research has shown that internet users believe that electronic devices are listening to their offline conversations (i.e., e-eavesdropping) for commercial purposes. Such beliefs are important to study because they could shape media effects and human behavior (e.g., limiting free speech around devices). We conducted a preregistered cross-sectional survey in the United States, Netherlands, and Poland (N = 886) to examine internet users’ surveillance beliefs and evaluate the factors related to such beliefs. The results showed that respondents had different surveillance beliefs, including e-eavesdropping, priming, coincidence, and digital traces. US respondents were most likely to believe in e-eavesdropping. A higher frequency of conversation-related advertising and shorter time perception were associated with e-eavesdropping beliefs. Moreover, in all three countries, we found a positive relation between conspiracy mentality and e-eavesdropping belief. The findings indicate the importance of contextual and individual factors and could help further understand privacy boundaries and enhance the ethical responsibility of Big Data collection strategies.