He felt a surge of triumph. The "ears" were being covered. But as he scrolled further down, the triumph turned to a prickle of unease.
Two hours later, he picked up his cell phone to check the weather. A notification from the Guardian app was waiting for him.
Suddenly, the phone vibrated. A text message from an unknown number appeared at the top of the screen.
"Thank you for the Guard, Elias," the phone said. "It kept the others out. Now we don't have to share."
Elias wasn't paranoid—or so he told himself. He was just a man who had noticed that every time he mentioned wanting a specific brand of coffee or complained about a sore lower back, his social media feeds were suddenly flooded with ads for artisanal beans and ergonomic chairs. The "Guardian," as the app was nicknamed in the forums, promised to put an end to the "always-on" ears of his devices. "Installation complete," the screen chirped.
