I have noticed a weird trend where I started seeing ads based on my conversations in real life (across FB and insta) .. I donāt think I ever signed up for it .. this happened to me multiple times and am not comfortable companies listening into my conversations .. Did anybody experience it ? I am planning to sue them ... talking to my lawyers ...
Here you are searching on google ..providing your info or search by intent .. FB is weird coz FB is listening to my conversations in real life.. I am not providing inputs
There was an article like 3 years ago about them enabling real time mic listening in FB app. They were doing it to see which TV channels/shows you watch and give relevant ads. I imagine in those years there has been a lot of advancement in that area.
Actually, Alexa is doing the same.
Some apps (not Google ones) will record audio in background Those apps sell data to ad exchanges who buy ads on behalf their clients.
Itās so fucking wrong ..
Why would Android even allow microphone access from background apps?
Everything you search on or near a connected device, and type on a proprietary platform is fair game. I am tired of reminding people that when the product is free, you are the product. The usual defense is that no human is reviewing your messages, our machines are showing you ads based on context. You donāt get to opt out if you want the product to be free.
Idk why people canāt understand this
Frankly, I don't know why people care. The geotargeted ads and search results I'm seeing from Google are pretty incredible. I think people who get bothered by this are under delusions that they are unique and having some algorithm "know them" freaks them out.
I experienced the same and deleted fb app
Well, to everyone out there who doesn't have FB or Insta account, FB still gets your data. How Facebook tracks you on Android [video] - https://media.ccc.de/v/35c3-9941-how_facebook_tracks_you_on_android/
Let me guess. You are using an android phone? On iphones, whenever the mic is on, the status bar turns green. Although, I am sure there would be ways to hack that as well, but not easily.
I use an iPhone
Everything that happens on an iPhone goes straight to Google...
This has been going on a while.
If thereās two billion people using an app then a handful will coincidentally see ads related to a topic they had recently discussed. Then that convinces everyone else itās happening even when itās not.
The specificity is chilling especially when the conversation you had was not something you had ever discussed before. If I ever work at Facebook, I'd definitely try and find out the inputs the ad rec engine takes. Just to satisfy my curiosity.
If you click on the ... next to an ad you can choose āwhy am I seeing thisā and get some insight into the process.
https://m.facebook.com/ads/about/?page_number=4&entry_product=education_page
So you really think a billion dollar company is wiretapping billions of people and Google and Apple (who examine the apps submitted before publishing and are competitors) are allowing it? Don't be dumb if they actually even tried your battery would die in a hour not to mention it being caught by Google who will be more then happy to turn them in (their biggest competitor) for commiting federal crimes at an unprecedented rate. What's really happening is simple. Do you know how sometimes you'll look at your phone then a second later get a message/call and you fell like you predicted it? In reality you look at your phone so much inevitably you'll remember the times it happens over the other times where nothing is noted mentally. Same with ads. You probably see hundreds a week. Every now and then you will something you just talked about. I really don't understand how people think it's possible for apps to literally wiretap them but at the same time be eager to buy an Alexa. You're not that special no one cares to comb through hundreds of hours of audio just to show you an ad about kitkats.
This keeps coming back similar to old email chains stories. So many leaks at Facebook about internal documents, if it we're true, you would think something like this in the code or data would be a bigger deal. Anyone getting PIP'd would easily prove it if it we're true. I think it is how you are describing or like "the law of attraction" what you think about happens. When in reality, thinking about something just makes you pay more attention to it.
This is the very attitude that landed FB where it is .. something nobody trusts anymore
I donāt use FB, but Iām seeing the same thing. It is like Google is listening to me. Like Iāll search for something and get ads related to that. Creepy, huh? I canāt sleep at night thinking about it. A friend sends me an email about a dildo as a joke and suddenly I see dildos as far as my sleep. Did google figure out how to implant thoughts of dildos into my mind via phone speakers playing frequencies outside the hearing range? Let me know how it works out, we have to fight back the Big Brother!
Writing to Bernie ! š
I have similar experiences. But Iāve narrowed it down to āpeople who are like meā googling about it or the topic trending in real life. For example, about the dildo - your friend probably googled it and thereās a relationship between the āshadow youā and your friend. Could be that the dildo came from the trending topics in CES? Infinite possibilities/explanations apart from them listening to us.