A WOMAN has reignited the long-running debate whether Facebook listens to you after noticing something “creepy” on her account.
The social network user says an ad related to a conversation she had with her sister suddenly appeared on the platform.
1
“I know my phone is listening to me,” Tiktoker Tania told followers.
Apparently she had been for a pedicure with her sister.
During their visit, they spoke about men having foot fetishes.
“Tegan and I were talking about how our current and exes were obsessed with our feet,” she explained.
Once they’d finished, she was surprised by an ad that appeared on her Facebook account.
It showed a pair of silicone life-size female feet sold on Amazon.
Can Facebook listen to my conversations?
Claims of Facebook listening to users via their iPhone or Android device is a popular myth that pops up time and time again.
It’s something social network owner Meta has repeatedly denied.
Most read in Tech
Several experts have investigated it themselves and so far have never found any evidence of it happening.
A spokesperson previously said: “Facebook does not use your phone’s microphone to inform ads or to change what you see in News Feed.
“Some recent articles have suggested that we must be listening to people’s conversations in order to show them relevant ads. This is not true.
“We show ads based on people’s interests and other profile information – not what you’re talking out loud about.
“We only access your microphone if you have given our app permission and if you are actively using a specific feature that requires audio.
“This might include recording a video or using an optional feature we introduced two years ago to include music or other audio in your status updates.”
So how do you explain ads related to my conversations?
It all comes down to the magic of targeted advertising.
It works so well that Facebook doesn’t really have any need to listen in on you.
The social network collects a staggering amount of information on you.
You can see some of what they see by visiting this link.
Advertisers can use information gleaned from your activity all across the web, on multiple devices.
It can even do this if you’re not logged into Facebook or other services.
They’ll know roughly where you live, what you like, who your friends are, how much money you make, 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.
It’s also possible that there’s an advertising campaign running, and you’ve seen an ad and not noticed.
You’ve then spoken about it, never realising you’ve been advertised to, and only then notice future ads – which suddenly seem suspicious.
Best Phone and Gadget tips and hacks
Looking for tips and hacks for your phone? Want to find those secret features within social media apps? We have you covered…
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]
This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
