The difference being, in the USSR the government was listening to keep you in line, while the technology in this article is listening in order to sell you something down the road. Your phone, your tv, you home devices such as Google Home and Amazon Echo are all listening to find out what you like and what you don’t like. They want your tendencies and how you make decisions. They want your money, they do not want to throw you in jail.
I would screw with it by leaving the TV on tuned to Telemundo all day, or streaming some radio station in Mandarin Chinese. Then let it go nuts trying to sell me stuff in the wrong language.