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Testing the long-held belief that Facebook listens to your conversations to advertise stuff...
For years, people have speculated that Facebook and Facebook Messenger use your phone’s microphone to listen to your conversations and send you targeted adverts based on your IRL chats...
To put the rumor to rest, we at the New Statesman engaged in a very scientific test. Each employee had a scripted conversation in front of their phone with Facebook or Messenger open (after changing their settings to ensure that Facebook and Facebook Messenger had access to their microphones)...
Here's what went down... more
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Facebook Really Is Spying on You...
A conspiracy theory has spread among Facebook and Instagram users: The company is tapping our microphones to target ads...
“Facebook does not use your phone’s microphone to inform ads or to change what you see in News Feed,” says Facebook.
Yeah, sure, and the government swears it isn’t keeping any pet aliens at Area 51. So I contacted former Facebook employees and various advertising technology experts, who all cited technical and legal reasons audio snooping isn’t possible... more
