Does facebook listen to conversations??

[s1962a]

This might be total paranoia, but last night the mrs and I were having a conversation her car service and how they hadn't fixed the aircon (car service was months ago). This morning I get an ad on my FB for a local garage that services aircon.. hmm

I didn't do any searches online for this yet, as I doubt she did (she uses me as google rather than type something in herself).

The only way someone could have targeted an ad to me like that is if they listened to that conversation last night.

Anyone else experienced this or have I lost the plot?

[marshalla]

Allegedly : http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-an...
but they deny it : http://www.techtimes.com/articles/163236/20160606/...

[Terminator X]

Prepare yourself for a proper beasting

TX.

Edit - I did hear though that when Faceache purchased Whatsapp a while back they intended to listen in on conversations which is why I deleted it

Edited by Terminator X on Tuesday 19th July 13:00

[s1962a]

bloody hell.. better not keep the phone near when indulging in certain activities then

[alock]

The facebook business model is that you are the product and the advertisers are the customer. I'd be astonished if they didn't do what you are claiming.

[eybic]

Terminator X said:

Prepare yourself for a proper beasting

TX.

Edit - I did hear though that when Faceache purchased Whatsapp a while back they intended to listen in on conversations which is why I deleted it

Edited by Terminator X on Tuesday 19th July 13:00

Whatsapp now claims to be secure end to end which it wasn't previously.

[Foliage]

Yes, you are the merchandise not the customer, the customers and revenue generator for facebook are the advertisers.

[SAS Tom]

I suspect it's more to do with the hot weather we currently have rather than anyone listening in.

[130R]

s1962a said:

bloody hell.. better not keep the phone near when indulging in certain activities then

Those conversations go straight to Zuckerberg's private account

[WinstonWolf]

s1962a said:

This might be total paranoia, but last night the mrs and I were having a conversation her car service and how they hadn't fixed the aircon (car service was months ago). This morning I get an ad on my FB for a local garage that services aircon.. hmm

I didn't do any searches online for this yet, as I doubt she did (she uses me as google rather than type something in herself).

The only way someone could have targeted an ad to me like that is if they listened to that conversation last night.

Anyone else experienced this or have I lost the plot?

Android phone?

[shakotan]

The Facebook App certainly looks at your telephone contacts and matches up phone numbers with their owners FB profile and suggests them as friends.

I came off FB for that very reason as it was suggesting my boss and work colleagues as people as I should sent Freind Requests to, despite me never having any online interaction with them, and not having my workplace listed on my profile. The only relation I could figure out was I had their phone numbers in my phone contacts.

[s1962a]

WinstonWolf said:

s1962a said:

This might be total paranoia, but last night the mrs and I were having a conversation her car service and how they hadn't fixed the aircon (car service was months ago). This morning I get an ad on my FB for a local garage that services aircon.. hmm

I didn't do any searches online for this yet, as I doubt she did (she uses me as google rather than type something in herself).

The only way someone could have targeted an ad to me like that is if they listened to that conversation last night.

Anyone else experienced this or have I lost the plot?

Android phone?

Iphones actually.. both of us.

It wasn't just a regular ad - it was for a local company that fixes aircons! I usually get other ads on FB related to what I might have searched on Amazon etc. A local aircon recharge company ad when we just talked about it a few hours earlier is eerie!

[BJG1]

s1962a said:

Iphones actually.. both of us.

It wasn't just a regular ad - it was for a local company that fixes aircons! I usually get other ads on FB related to what I might have searched on Amazon etc. A local aircon recharge company ad when we just talked about it a few hours earlier is eerie!

Regardless of whether Facebook does have the capability, I don't think your local company will be given access to targetting based on conversation history so it's unlikely the targetting was as a result of that.

[S10GTA]

s1962a said:

Iphones actually.. both of us.

It wasn't just a regular ad - it was for a local company that fixes aircons! I usually get other ads on FB related to what I might have searched on Amazon etc. A local aircon recharge company ad when we just talked about it a few hours earlier is eerie!

Completely coincidental. As a business they will up their marketing when its warm like this and be targeting you, people who live in a certain area in a certain demographic. Thats all.

https://www.facebook.com/business/products/ads/

"When you run a Facebook Advert, you choose the audiences that see it by location, age, interests and more.
With Facebook Adverts, you choose the type of people you want to reach and we deliver your adverts to them. This makes your adverts more relevant for the people who see them, and brings you real results."

[WinstonWolf]

s1962a said:

WinstonWolf said:

s1962a said:

This might be total paranoia, but last night the mrs and I were having a conversation her car service and how they hadn't fixed the aircon (car service was months ago). This morning I get an ad on my FB for a local garage that services aircon.. hmm

I didn't do any searches online for this yet, as I doubt she did (she uses me as google rather than type something in herself).

The only way someone could have targeted an ad to me like that is if they listened to that conversation last night.

Anyone else experienced this or have I lost the plot?

Android phone?

Iphones actually.. both of us.

It wasn't just a regular ad - it was for a local company that fixes aircons! I usually get other ads on FB related to what I might have searched on Amazon etc. A local aircon recharge company ad when we just talked about it a few hours earlier is eerie!

Maybe Siri does the same as OK Google, that certainly listens even when you're not using the phone.

[rpguk]

OP - When you say you had a conversation with your wife do you mean an instant message style one, a facebook call or you were just chatting in person.

I wouldn't be surprised if they target based on contents of instant message as that's easy enough. Facebook calls would be possible as the calls will go via them but would involve a lot of processing power and I can't see it being worthwhile yet. The last option, that they listen into general conversation via the mic is extremely unlikely as to extract the actual contents of a conversation would be very difficult and would be obvious it was taking place.

However there is all sorts of data sharing that goes on in the background and linking up of people/accounts that I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a total coincidence. Although of course as someone says above it may be a coincidence based on more advertising at this time of year for AC related stuff!

WinstonWolf said:

Maybe Siri does the same as OK Google, that certainly listens even when you're not using the phone.

IIRC there is usually a chip which is tuned to listen out for the phrase which then turns on the full speech recognition (which is done off phone) so while it is in someway always listening it's not actively listening if you see what I mean

[walamai]

S10GTA said:

Completely coincidental. As a business they will up their marketing when its warm like this and be targeting you, people who live in a certain area in a certain demographic. Thats all.

Yep, completely agree. Keep in mind that several million other people had conversations within earshot of their phone last night and didn't see advertising that was related Coincidences are a statistical 'certainty' in a group of users this large. Plus, as S10GTA says, the 'coincidence' is more likely as businesses are targeting advertising.

[devnull]

Well, when my gearbox failed in my merc, I was talking to the missus that it had broken and i needed to find a replacement.

Lo and behold, i was given gearbox recon specialist ads in the FB app, and no, I hadn't looked for it at that point on my phone.

[T5SOR]

I was sat at home last night thinking to myself that I may have been missold PPI. I have had 3 calls about it today alone!

[f1nn]

I can beat that, I was having a wk while looking at porn sites while I was away. There was this bird who lived a mile and a half away who wanted a bunk up.

Low and behold, when I got home, almost 80 miles away, you'll never guess what...the bird has moved to the area and still wants a bunk up....I'm freaked out.