Straight up bullshit, 100%. I know this for a fact.
For a while I was getting [i]very[/i] specific targeted ads. Like for specific products or businesses I had talked about that day or the day prior. So I started intentionally talking out loud about a product for a while and within a day I got an ad for it. I repeated this twice.
I had disabled mic permission for Facebook, but I noticed that Instagram had permission (because of the in-app camera). I disabled it and have had no more trouble with it.
Like everything else, of course they deny it :v:
[QUOTE=153x;52829361]Straight up bullshit, 100%. I know this for a fact.
For a while I was getting [i]very[/i] specific targeted ads. Like for specific products or businesses I had talked about that day or the day prior. So I started intentionally talking out loud about a product for a while and within a day I got an ad for it. I repeated this twice.
I had disabled mic permission for Facebook, but I noticed that Instagram had permission (because of the in-app camera). I disabled it and have had no more trouble with it.[/QUOTE]
I've noticed shit like this happen to me also. I really want to test it to see if I can reliably get it to produce ads for things I wouldn't otherwise get ads for.
Things like this need some pretty specific code to run, so [I]if[/I] it actually happens, someone will be able to find it by examining the apps.
[QUOTE=Tamschi;52833016]Things like this need some pretty specific code to run, so [I]if[/I] it actually happens, someone will be able to find it by examining the apps.[/QUOTE]I imagine it communicates with a server of some sort that relays the ads based on what you said via packets. So you'd get a relay but that's more than enough proof of spying.
[QUOTE=MissingNoGuy;52833021]I imagine it communicates with a server of some sort that relays the ads based on what you said via packets. So you'd get a relay but that's more than enough proof of spying.[/QUOTE]
Most importantly, you'd have the app activate the microphone when it really shouldn't.
[QUOTE=Tamschi;52833032]Most importantly, you'd have the app activate the microphone when it really shouldn't.[/QUOTE]
The key here, and the reason why [i]if[/i] they were caught they couldn't get in trouble, is that they rely on users not disabling mic access. Because Facebook and Instagram have in-app cameras, and you need to give the app permission to use the mic if you want to use them, almost nobody will say no.
Technically speaking, if you give an app access to something, it has access to it whenever it wants (unless otherwise specified). They also don't/can't switch access back on if you turn it off, but the key here is nobody knows that you should turn it off.
I'm not the only one who has tested it either, after some googling I found some other results too, but you'd think this would be a big deal yeah?
[QUOTE=153x;52833651]The key here, and the reason why [i]if[/i] they were caught they couldn't get in trouble, is that they rely on users not disabling mic access. Because Facebook and Instagram have in-app cameras, and you need to give the app permission to use the mic if you want to use them, almost nobody will say no.
Technically speaking, if you give an app access to something, it has access to it whenever it wants (unless otherwise specified). They also don't/can't switch access back on if you turn it off, but the key here is nobody knows that you should turn it off.
I'm not the only one who has tested it either, after some googling I found some other results too, but you'd think this would be a big deal yeah?[/QUOTE]
You're right, it would be a big deal. Except it's not. Why is that?
Perhaps because no actual proof has been shown that Facebook is actually [i]recording everything from your microphone and sending it to Facebook servers for transcription[/i].
Do you understand the technical implications of Facebook doing that? How easy it would be to detect based on data usage, battery drain, or even simply watching for when it activates the microphone? Let alone how [i]absolutely illegal[/i] it would be for Facebook to be doing this, and how easy it would be to catch them.
You're not being spied on by Facebook, you're suffering from confirmation bias.
[QUOTE=geel9;52834063]You're right, it would be a big deal. Except it's not. Why is that?
Perhaps because no actual proof has been shown that Facebook is actually [I]recording everything from your microphone and sending it to Facebook servers for transcription[/I].
Do you understand the technical implications of Facebook doing that? How easy it would be to detect based on data usage, battery drain, or even simply watching for when it activates the microphone? Let alone how [I]absolutely illegal[/I] it would be for Facebook to be doing this, and how easy it would be to catch them.
You're not being spied on by Facebook, you're suffering from confirmation bias.[/QUOTE]
Surely it doesn't have to send in the voice packets, the fact that facebook apps are ridiculously bloated to hell probably means there's TTS methods to reduce the data packet sizes. Oh and I've had the same thing happen with mentioning something to a coworker or friend, checking FB a few hours later and have an ad pop in with what I was talking about is very creepy. Also the fact that every site has shitty social bars allowing facebook to creep in on everything you do.
[QUOTE=Sombrero;52834248]Surely it doesn't have to send in the voice packets, the fact that facebook apps are ridiculously bloated to hell probably means there's TTS methods. Oh and I've had the same thing happen with mentioning something to a coworker or friend, checking FB a few hours later and have an ad pop in with what I was talking about is very creepy. Also the fact that every site has shitty social bars allowing facebook to creep in on everything you do.[/QUOTE]
On-device TTS is not only fucking garbage, having it run 100% of the time would be an [i]incredible[/i] drain on resources, and it would be easily discoverable by decompiling the app.
Google doesn't do TTS on-device. Nor does Amazon's Alexa. It's all done by the servers, because they're actually capable of doing so.
[QUOTE=geel9;52834256]On-device TTS is not only fucking garbage, having it run 100% of the time would be an [i]incredible[/i] drain on resources, and it would be easily discoverable by decompiling the app.
Google doesn't do TTS on-device. Nor does Amazon's Alexa. It's all done by the servers, because they're actually capable of doing so.[/QUOTE]
I don't understand the technical side of these things, so I have no idea what it would take to make it happen. You could well be right. But my personal experience has been that they do indeed listen.
For example, the day after I (intentionally) talked into my phone for ten minutes about shopping for kayaks I got several ads for kayaks. Another time I did the same thing with talking about traveling to Hong Kong. I got ads for flights to HK. Then I did it again, this time with buying tennis gear. Ads for rackets and shoes.
These are all very specific things I have never looked at on the internet, searched for, spoken about in person or on the phone, seen ads for previously, or even had any related interests that might lead to them. After disabling mic permissions I stopped seeing creepy ads, completely.
If you don't believe me, then okay. Call it coincidence. I'm just putting my experience out there for others to read.
[QUOTE=153x;52834341]I don't understand the technical side of these things, so I have no idea what it would take to make it happen. You could well be right. But my personal experience has been that they do indeed listen.
For example, the day after I (intentionally) talked into my phone for ten minutes about shopping for kayaks I got several ads for kayaks. Another time I did the same thing with talking about traveling to Hong Kong. I got ads for flights to HK. Then I did it again, this time with buying tennis gear. Ads for rackets and shoes.
These are all very specific things I have never looked at on the internet, searched for, spoken about in person or on the phone, seen ads for previously, or even had any related interests that might lead to them. After disabling mic permissions I stopped seeing creepy ads, completely.
If you don't believe me, then okay. Call it coincidence. I'm just putting my experience out there for others to read.[/QUOTE]
The key flaw in your argument is that you have provided [i]absolutely no data[/i] for how many ads for kayaks you saw [i]before[/i] your flawed test.
You don't know. You haven't recorded anything. You've just noticed a single advertisement and determined that that's proof of Facebook listening to you.
You likely see dozens to hundreds of different ads per day. How many do you ignore because you don't remember talking about them in the past? How many of those ones that you ignored later get coincidentally shown again after a conversation you've had about that product? You don't know.
[QUOTE=153x;52829361]Straight up bullshit, 100%. I know this for a fact.
For a while I was getting [i]very[/i] specific targeted ads. Like for specific products or businesses I had talked about that day or the day prior. So I started intentionally talking out loud about a product for a while and within a day I got an ad for it. I repeated this twice.
I had disabled mic permission for Facebook, but I noticed that Instagram had permission (because of the in-app camera). I disabled it and have had no more trouble with it.[/QUOTE]
I had my suspicions about this because I would sometimes get Final Fantasy XIV ads, which is a game I play pretty avidly and with my friends. I don't have my Instagram linked to my Facebook (and I don't really even use my Facebook, let alone talk about FFXIV on it), so I wanted to try what you did. I talked about Doritos and Mountain Dew for like 5 minutes straight into my phone last night. Just now checked my Instagram, got a fucking Doritos and Mountain Dew ad. Absolutely never saw one until right now. My Instagram is solely for photography and I haven't associated it with anything involving video games.
[t]https://i.imgur.com/h9Xr43l.jpg[/t]
[QUOTE=geel9;52834747]The key flaw in your argument is that you have provided [i]absolutely no data[/i] for how many ads for kayaks you saw [i]before[/i] your flawed test.
You don't know. You haven't recorded anything. You've just noticed a single advertisement and determined that that's proof of Facebook listening to you.
You likely see dozens to hundreds of different ads per day. How many do you ignore because you don't remember talking about them in the past? How many of those ones that you ignored later get coincidentally shown again after a conversation you've had about that product? You don't know.[/QUOTE]
I don't have any hard data, no, but I definitely do not recall ever seeing a kayak ad before that. Which is, y'know, why I used it as my test? To reduce the chance of confirmation bias?
Yes, I haven't "recorded" anything, and no, it wasn't a "single advertisement". If you read my post, I said it happened often enough that I became aware of it, and then I tested it multiple times after that.
I don't understand why you seem so eager to disprove me. It's not exactly a crackpot conspiracy theory.
Maybe I sound paranoid, but shit like this is part of why I don't have the Facebook app on my phone. If I need to post a picture I took on my phone to Facebook, I'd rather email it to myself and then upload it from my computer. There's not really anything else I can think of needing to do with Facebook from my phone, so between that and my stupid fear of having Facebook listen to what I'm saying, there's just no point.
I keep talking about computer shit to my girlfriend and now all she gets is PC hardware ads. It's weird.
I'm 100% sure geel9 is a facebook employee. Why are they still denying that facebook doesn't record people, when people in this thread have been posting confirmation just by testing it?
I've experienced this as well. I do volunteer work with a guy who does work for UberEATS, and I've never seen an ad or heard about them before until he talked about it.
[QUOTE=Zet;52836283]I'm 100% sure geel9 is a facebook employee. Why are they still denying that facebook doesn't record people, when people in this thread have been posting confirmation just by testing it?
I've experienced this as well. I do volunteer work with a guy who does work for UberEATS, and I've never seen an ad or heard about them before until he talked about it.[/QUOTE]
I run my own company lol
People haven't posted confirmation that Facebook is listening to them, they've posted confirmation that it looks like they are.
There's no actual evidence besides "I noticed an advertisement that related to something I had talked about before", which can have a billion explanations [i]besides[/i] the idea that Facebook is actively listening to everyone's conversations and transcribing them in realtime to serve them relevant ads.
It's pretty telling that every single programmer who's heard this story knows how absolutely bullshit it is. The logistical implications of it are mind-boggling.
Could you perhaps list some of those billion explanations?
[QUOTE=Boaraes;52839018]Could you perhaps list some of those billion explanations?[/QUOTE]
Well one of them is that the system just got really "lucky" and managed to advertise something to you based off of what you were looking at and you happened to talk about that thing? Hence confirmation bias. It's the most likely explanation, and it [I]is[/I] likely.
[QUOTE=MrJazzy;52839188]Well one of them is that the system just got really "lucky" and managed to advertise something to you based off of what you were looking at and you happened to talk about that thing? Hence confirmation bias. It's the most likely explanation, and it [I]is[/I] likely.[/QUOTE]
Looking at in what context?
[QUOTE=geel9;52837322][...]
[...] The logistical implications of it are mind-boggling.[/QUOTE]
I'd say it's 'technically feasible' at this point, but they'd still have a really hard time hiding it.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.