Does facebook listen to conversations??

[WinstonWolf]

eybic said:

WinstonWolf said:

It defaults to on...

But you can turn it off.

You can indeed, but until someone makes a conscious decision to change it, it's listening.

[eybic]

OK, that's the simple solution to most people in this thread, remove microphone access. It's being made out like there is nothing you can do and "the man" is listening to everything that goes on in your life when in fact you just have to remove permission.

[WinstonWolf]

eybic said:

OK, that's the simple solution to most people in this thread, remove microphone access. It's being made out like there is nothing you can do and "the man" is listening to everything that goes on in your life when in fact you just have to remove permission.

I think it's just that people are surprised when they find out it's been happening.

[OtherBusiness]

I have microphone access turned off on mine. I have recently disabled Siri which seems to have stopped it. I also have never had the Facebook app installed, so the adverts where being generated via something else. Probably Google Maps...

[hairyben]

WinstonWolf said:

eybic said:

OK, that's the simple solution to most people in this thread, remove microphone access. It's being made out like there is nothing you can do and "the man" is listening to everything that goes on in your life when in fact you just have to remove permission.

I think it's just that people are surprised when they find out it's been happening.

It's the newness of the app-driven devices where everything defaults to permission granted rather than asking.

And also that we know googles a money making machine, that their "free" software is in fact part of a symbiotic relationship, but theres a sense of betrayal at finding the extents of what some of those "I agree's" actually mean, when they're about as principled as Bill clintons definition of "not cheating"

[All that jazz]

OtherBusiness said:

I have microphone access turned off on mine. I have recently disabled Siri which seems to have stopped it. I also have never had the Facebook app installed, so the adverts where being generated via something else. Probably Google Maps...

Not being the technical sort on how these things work, but how does one go about disabling/denying certain elements and still have the app work? From what I can see the apps give you a long list of stuff they want access to if you want to use it and you either get the choice of saying yes or no; I don't see any way of only selecting the bits you're happy with(?)

[eybic]

All that jazz said:

Not being the technical sort on how these things work, but how does one go about disabling/denying certain elements and still have the app work? From what I can see the apps give you a long list of stuff they want access to if you want to use it and you either get the choice of saying yes or no; I don't see any way of only selecting the bits you're happy with(?)

What phone do you have?

[OtherBusiness]

If iPhone - Settings > privacy > microphone > disable accordingly. Its surprising some that want to use it (some games for example that have no business needing microphone access)

[All that jazz]

eybic said:

What phone do you have?

S4 Mini.

[eybic]

All that jazz said:

eybic said:

What phone do you have?

S4 Mini.

For Facebook specifically:

On Android (Marshmallow)
Go to Settings.
Swipe over to “Personal”
Tap “Privacy and safety”
Tap “App permissions”
Tap “Microphone”
Find Facebook, and turn the slider to OFF.

[All that jazz]

eybic said:

For Facebook specifically:

On Android (Marshmallow)
Go to Settings.
Swipe over to “Personal”
Tap “Privacy and safety”
Tap “App permissions”
Tap “Microphone”
Find Facebook, and turn the slider to OFF.

I don't use Facebook but thanks for the info - I guess the process is moreorless the same for other apps.

[hairyben]

Or if you go settings>applications>application manager and view permissions for each app you can see /uncheck what else the nosey bds are fiddling with.

What legitimate reason is there for so many apps to want access to contacts?

[Alucidnation]

S10GTA said:

Alucidnation said:

Right thats it.

Earlier today, I had a mishap and squashed my thumb at work which meant i needed a trip to A&E.


Now i have just had a spam email (that i have never had before) about beating NHS waiting lists.

Somethings going on!!!!!!!!

Location settings for that one. Did you check in at the hospital (or even just use Facebook whilst there)

No, I dont even use Facebook, and certainly dont even have the app (i appreciate the context of the thread).

[AndStilliRise]

Does anyone know how to do it on a one plus two phone please?

[GCH]

I am no fan of tin-foil hattery, but I am convinced there is something in this, backed up by what I have been told by someone I know who works for one of the prominent tech companies.


The other day, a friend was streaming a show from radio 6 via the BBC iphone app, playing through the speaker.

I was on my mac, I had chrome open (not signed in) and was doing something completely unrelated to music.

A couple of songs played on and we make brief comments about and related to them. Another song came on, and as it was an 80s track we were wondering how bad the video for it would be.
I opened youtube (not signed in), typed in the artist and title of that track which played (and was indeed, terrible) , and in the 'up next' column on the right with 'recommended for you' underneath each of them were four or five of the tracks we had just been discussing, as well as one I had been listening to from my iTunes library the day before.

These tracks were not even of the same genre, not recent/current, I have not searched for them on youtube or google, and I don't have facebook.

1 track sure, but 5?

[OtherBusiness]

The final straw for me about it was having a conversation about some friends and them going through a few rounds of IVF. Not something I have ever looked for online. Later that day in my Facebook newsfeed - an advert for a fertility clinic. Never had one of them shown to me before.

[All that jazz]

All that jazz said:

eybic said:

For Facebook specifically:

On Android (Marshmallow)
Go to Settings.
Swipe over to “Personal”
Tap “Privacy and safety”
Tap “App permissions”
Tap “Microphone”
Find Facebook, and turn the slider to OFF.

I don't use Facebook but thanks for the info - I guess the process is moreorless the same for other apps.

Just looked and I don't have any of those options on mine. There is no 'personal' tab. It says it is running on version 4.4.2 and no new updates are available.

Up the 'applications' and 'app info' it shows all the permissions and a long list of what the app can access but there is no way to change any of them, it just tells you what they do when you click on each line.

[ZesPak]

Or just use the fb website, I've been doing it for 5 years. The app has been several degrees of crap over that time.
Only thing missing is push notifications if you want them.

[CoolHands]

Did you know that some advertisers are now using inaudible ultrasonic sound to track your use, and gather info? Adverts can make the sound and apps can hear it etc all unknown to users. Perhaps that explains some of th incidents in this thread. Or if not, it will certainly play into similar incidents in the future!

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/silent-hack-devices-can-b...

[WinstonWolf]

Watched Planet Earth on TV an hour or so ago, just featured as a suggested post...