SOCIAL SPY?
Eerie post ‘proves Facebook is listening through my microphone’, paranoid gadget fan claims
A TIKTOKER has reignited claims that Facebook spies on users via your smartphone's mic.
For years the social network has been falsely accused of listening to people's conversations to surface adverts.
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But that hasn't stopped many from thinking it might be real.
TikTok user shared their "scary" story with the app.
In a video, they explain how they set up a completely new account to interact with a streamer that they were "accidentally banned from".
The person claims they never used the account to search anything else on Facebook.
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Not even Marketplace, where Facebook users can sell their goods.
They kept the account logged into their phone in the background and visited a friend.
During their visit, they asked if they could borrow a charger.
"Then two hours later, this pops up," they said.
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"This is scary."
The popup in question was a recommendation from Marketplace for iPhone cables on sale.
Why do I see ads on Facebook related to my conversations then?
Facebook has repeatedly denied such claims, saying it never uses microphone recordings to target ads better.
The tech giant may have a questionable track record when it comes to privacy and security – but it's almost certainly not snooping on your real-life conversations.
Privacy researchers, computer scientists, technology journalists, and countless other experts have sniffed around on this front and found no solid evidence of wrongdoing.
Ads that you think are from your conversations simply demonstrate how clever targeted advertising is.
Facebook doesn't need to spy on your real-life conversations, because you hand over so much information anyway.
Follow this and you'll be able to download everything Facebook knows about you. Most of you will quickly realise it's a staggering amount of information.
Advertisers can use information gleaned from your activity all across the web, on multiple devices, even if you're not logged into Facebook or other services.
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They'll likely know whereabouts you live roughly, your interests, who you're friends with, how much money you earn, your political beliefs and much more.
So when you get ads for something you've talked about out loud, it's almost certainly just advertisers being very good at predicting your interests.
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