I didn't ask a single question.
I didn't say a word.
And yet, in just 10 to 15 minutes, I learned a surprising amount about a teenager I had never met before.
He was talking to a friend on the bus, without lowering his voice.
He showed his phone, laughed, shared personal details.
By listening casually — and observing closely — here's what I found out about him:
His first name, his approximate age (14–16), and even the last 7 digits of his phone number.
I overheard his home address, which he shared naturally with his friend, likely thinking he was in a private bubble.
I learned he owns an iPhone (at least an iPhone 11), regular AirPods (not the Pro version), and carries a small black gym bag. His wallpaper is pink, and he receives pornographic ads, which says a lot about his browsing settings — or what's been imposed on him.
I know he once spent over 100 hours on his phone in a single week, that his parents set a screen time limit, that he was on a call while on the bus, and that he spent 50 minutes on Instagram on June 17, 2025.
I also know he has limited computer skills, his posture is slightly hunched, and his gestures are telling: he zooms using his left thumb and index finger, something I deduced from the reflection of light of his screen on the bus window.
I know he looked out the window once when the bus slowed down.
And I know he got off the bus after me, never realizing someone was mentally taking note of everything.
——————
This isn't a stunt.
It's not harassment, either.
It's just passive observation in a public space.
What's striking isn't my ability to notice things, but how easy it is for someone to become transparent, exposed, readable.
Young people today live in a world of hypercommunication and hypervisibility.
They speak loudly, reveal their lives through their phones, and don't always realize that their data, their habits, and their vulnerabilities are visible.
They think they're just among friends — but they're out in the world.
What I take from this experience is that the boundary between private life and public space is growing thinner.
You don't need a spy, a hacker, or a surveillance camera to learn a lot about someone.
You just need to pay attention.
And to me, that's far more unsettling than it is fascinating.