Shhhh! Facebook is listening

[steven36]

The great privacy farce continues

 

 

Facebook wants to hear what you have to say. Literally.

 

Professor Kelli Burns claims to have tested a hunch that the social media giant's mobile application is listening to everything you say and providing ads based on that content, and discovered it was true.

The mass communication prof at the University of South Florida, with the help of telly journalists, has verified the fact that Facebook's mobile app grants itself access to your microphone by talking about a holiday she wanted to take.

 

"I'm really interested in going on an African safari. I think it'd be wonderful to ride in one of those jeeps," she said out loud with her phone in hand. According to the NBC report, under a minute later, the first story in her Facebook feed was about a safari. And a car ad soon appeared on her page.

 

Of course, the "evidence" is purely anecdotal, and as soon as the report spread, Burns has walked back her claim, saying that she may have been searching online for the same things she said out loud – in which case Facebook may be reacting to other data it has picked up on her habits.

 

It may also be worth noting that before Professor Burns became an academic, she spent seven years in corporate marketing and the course she teaches is the "principles of public relations."

Access all areas

Facebook's app access to a phone's microphone is fact, and, critically, it now appears to be turned on by default, meaning you have to dig into your phone's innards to disable it.

 

This is not the first time Facebook has faced this charge: last year it was also accused of listening to people and selling ads in response. It said at the time that users had to turn the microphone on. But that may have changed subsequently, since most users find their microphones are on as a default for the Facebook app.

 

Facebook says this about its use of the microphone: "We use your microphone to identify the things you're listening to or watching, based on the music and TV matches we're able to identify."

 

It also points out that it doesn't record conversations – although it doesn't need to actually record conversations, of course, to act on them and relay "relevant ads." And last year it claimed that listening was limited only to when you are writing a Facebook update.

 

In response to Burns' report and other similar anecdotes reported online, the company has denied using what you say to place ads or impact your news feed. It said: "Facebook does not use microphone audio to inform advertising or News Feed stories in any way. Businesses are able to serve relevant ads based on people's interests and other demographic information, but not through audio collection."

 

Of course, it is possible to parse that official response and question what Facebook's definitions of "inform" and "collection" are.

Comparison

Unlike other better-known voice services such as Apple's Siri and Amazon's Echo, Facebook has given itself far greater control over what it can do with your microphone. Its explanations also follow a familiar trend of Facebook responses: vague policies, followed by clear denials, followed by a new set of policies.

 

Apple's Siri assistant can listen to you any time, but there are three significant differences between it and Facebook.

 

First, it waits for its "wake word" – in this case "Hey, Siri." Second, it is turned off by default. You have to activate it and then carry out four voice tests before it turns on. And third, it only works when plugged in (although Apple has reportedly considered turning off the plugged-in restriction).

 

Likewise, Amazon's Echo technology listens for a wake word before carrying out any analysis – in its case, "Alexa." Amazon is also upfront about its collection of audio and allows you to delete recordings plus play around with settings.

A turn off

Facebook, on the other hand, gives itself access to your phone's mic – seemingly by default despite earlier claims – and is capable of always listening and does not tell you what it does with the information it receives.

 

None of this should comes as a surprise to people: Facebook has repeatedly given itself access to people's personal data and then begged forgiveness afterwards.

 

It continually tweaks its privacy settings, requiring people to keep making changes to prevent the company from sharing the information you provide. And whenever there is an uproar, it announces small changes that require people to actively change their settings again. Most don't.

 

Facebook claims the feature is good for users because it makes it easier and faster for you to post about what's going on around you. If that's a persuasive argument for you, continue on, but for everyone else the answer is to go into your phone's settings and manually prevent your Facebook app from accessing your microphone.

How to turn it off

iOS: Settings > Facebook > Settings > Microphone.

Android: Settings > Privacy and emergency > App permissions. Find Facebook and turn off mic access.

 

The Source

[alvinblah]

I've long been convinced Facebook App, or at the very least Messenger listens in. Too many similar anecdotal experiences of unique conversation topics, only for it to arrive in FB advertising on my device and computer later. FB has done very little to convince me they're acting in good faith. I feel they're sort of like Amazon in this regard...if they can scrape information about you now, they will, and then later on deal with the legal consequences.

[dMog]

IF ADVERTISERS IN 1955  could have  had this technology to be so intrusive they would have lined up to get it and use it t exploit you...not sayin it is right or that I agree with it   but just saying ....really.... did we already not know this was going on

[bubbada]

1 hour ago, steven36 said:

 

How to turn it off

Android: Settings > Privacy and emergency > App permissions. Find Facebook and turn off mic access.

 

this is obviously a new implemation to android?

that ill probably wont have it on android 5.1.1

[CODYQX4]

.

[steven36]

28 minutes ago, CODYQX4 said:

They must be talking about Android, because on iOS, apps don't get permissions until they try to use them, instead of requesting a bunch at once.

 

So if Facebook on iOS is wiretapping you, it's because you screwed up and smashed OK without reading.

 

PS: Not that I use this garbage, but a look at someone's phone with both apps show neither have microphone access (not even in the list, because an app doesn't get listed unless it tries to use it).

If it somehow still works than they have an exploit in their app to bypass permissions, which is unlikely because then every two-bit hacker would have found it and abused it by now.

On IOS  7 it look kind of like Windows 10 were you have go in and turn all that crap off . heres how to stop apps from accessing you're Mic on IOS7

 

 

Source

http://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-prevent-apps-from-accessing-iphone-microphone-in-ios-7/

 

 

 

[CODYQX4]

.

[straycat19]

People use smart phones for everything but the REALLY smart thing to do is only use them for phones.  Actually if my phone company would let me I would still be using my old flip phone without all this modern all-in-one junk.  A phone will never offer the security or privacy that a computer does.  I have a facebook page, I don't have much on it, don't allow anyone but family to access it, have no friends except wife and daughter, belong to a few closed groups on facebook, and don't access it from my phone.  

[steven36]

2 hours ago, CODYQX4 said:

Yes, but unlike Windows 10, you have to have pressed OK, and things don't magically toggle themselves back on (Windows 10 RTM always reset my privacy settings).

 

I've been using iOS since 2009 and nothing has ever enabled itself here without my consent. You need a system exploit to do that, and if there was one in a popular app, hackers would have found it, abused it to hell, and everyone would have found out once all the "Apple Security = Worthless Trash" mud started getting flung around leading to a fix.

The  person who done it had turned it on

Quote

Kelli enabled the microphone feature and talked about her desire to go on safari, right down to her mode of transportation.  “I’m really interested in going on an African safari. I think it’d be wonderful to ride in one of those jeeps,” she said aloud, phone in hand.

http://nbc4i.com/2016/05/24/spying-secrets-is-facebook-eavesdropping-on-your-phone-conversations/

You  want too know why people have it on ? It is because FB messenger has had voice chat since 2013 .

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023701/facebook-adds-voice-and-chat-to-its-messenger-apps.html

 

So if you used it to chat with friends on FB you need to turn it off there listening .The best thing would be to remove the app and find a better one.

[steven36]

18 minutes ago, straycat19 said:

 A phone will never offer the security or privacy that a computer does.

You're on the internet you dont really have no privacy no way no matter what you use if you want real privacy you should never logged on and still people would have put you're info out there  . You dont need to belong to  Facebook if you're have friends who go on there and talk about you Facebook  have you're info anyways because log and listen to everything .

[CODYQX4]

.

[steven36]

33 minutes ago, CODYQX4 said:

PS: For the record, apps like FB Messenger and Skype have some kind of VOIP feature that lets them run in the background for longer on iOS. They drain a heaping about of battery doing so, there are dozens of jailbreak tweaks to disable this feature, though it may impair app usage if you get calls like you would a phone (where they call you at any arbitrary time whether you have the app open or not). I think you'd probably still get Push Notifications fine to know (at least for text it does, without the VOIP Background feature).

I never use Facebook or Skype I dont even use yahoo or gchat  anymore.  I just use one chat server with a  encryption plugin  that i use too text to a few of my friends  . I stop using VOIP chat in the 1st decade of the 21st century . Back in the dial up  days voice chat was cool , but i dont even install the one i used for years. For a cell phone i only use a burner  for when i'm not home, if im home  if i  know you , you  can call me on the phone or chat with me there but i dont give strangers my info  .  

[dMog]

8 hours ago, steven36 said:

I never use Facebook or Skype I dont even use yahoo or gchat  anymore.  I just use one chat server with a  encryption plugin  that i use too text to a few of my friends  . I stop using VOIP chat in the 1st decade of the 21st century . Back in the dial up  days voice chat was cool , but i dont even install the one i used for years. For a cell phone i only use a burner  for when i'm not home, if im home  if i  know you , you  can call me on the phone or chat with me there but i dont give strangers my info  .  

 

gee...we had no idea that you are  actually an internationally wanted man  

[steven36]

13 hours ago, dMog said:

gee...we had no idea that you are  actually an internationally wanted man  

i'm not wanted,   If i were i would not even bother coming on the internet were i could be tracked from it  at all