Does facebook listen to conversations??

Does facebook listen to conversations??

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Discussion

Newc

1,865 posts

182 months

Tuesday 19th July 2016
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ZesPak

24,427 posts

196 months

Wednesday 20th July 2016
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Newc said:
hehe

Whilst that might be comical, don't forget that he would be a prime candidate for hackers, so I can understand the reasoning.

JimbobVFR

2,682 posts

144 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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shakotan said:
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.
Bit it couldn't make it clearer and asks you when you install. The latest Android OS also will ask for permission to access your contacts.

tenfour

26,140 posts

214 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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ZesPak said:
Newc said:
hehe

Whilst that might be comical, don't forget that he would be a prime candidate for hackers, so I can understand the reasoning.
Is that the camera and phono jack he's taped up?

marshalla

15,902 posts

201 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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tenfour said:
Is that the camera and phono jack he's taped up?
Yup - because he doesn't know where the mic. is.

tenfour

26,140 posts

214 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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marshalla said:
tenfour said:
Is that the camera and phono jack he's taped up?
Yup - because he doesn't know where the mic. is.
Neither do I, come to think of it!

Hugo a Gogo

23,378 posts

233 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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they were talking about this on the radio here the other day

bloke whose smoke detector was going off all day had ads for smoke detectors appear

delivery bloke who always asks peoples names to check who he's delivering to magically gets 'people you may know' of the people he's just delivered to

I had a lad suggested as 'someone I may know', we have no friends in common or anything, but i had just been talking about him a day or so earlier

tenfour

26,140 posts

214 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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Hugo a Gogo

23,378 posts

233 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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it's easily possible with the current software, so why wouldn't they?

hardly tinfoil hat material

james_gt3rs

4,816 posts

191 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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Confirmation bias in effect...

Zato

324 posts

181 months

Thursday 21st July 2016
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Facebook if not logged out can read the metatags of all emails you send and receive and will recommend friends based on your send/receive addresses. Linkdin does exactly the same.

Left both for this reason.

devnull

3,753 posts

157 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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Zato said:
Facebook if not logged out can read the metatags of all emails you send and receive and will recommend friends based on your send/receive addresses. Linkdin does exactly the same.

Left both for this reason.
Explains why an associate I work with who is from another company got recommended to me last night as a "friend".

No Thanks!

Slyjoe

1,501 posts

211 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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The very same has happened to me over the last few days - wondering how the heck they can target me with ads so specific to something I'd been talking to the wife about.
Trouble is, is doesn't seem to know when you've bought it, so it keeps hitting you up with those same ads.

wiggy001

6,545 posts

271 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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This thread is hilarious rofl

walamai

439 posts

207 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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Hugo a Gogo said:
it's easily possible with the current software, so why wouldn't they?

hardly tinfoil hat material
a) Because it's illegal in most countries without explicit permission. (not a show-stopper in itself, it could just be in the T&C's)

b) Because they would lose money. People would leave FB in droves if they were actually 'listening' and processing every conversation within earshot of a computer/phone.

c) Whilst technically possible, it isn't trivial. It would either use a fair bit of local CPU power on the device, or large amounts of data. Both of which would be off-putting to people, so refer to b. smile

130R

6,810 posts

206 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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Zato said:
Facebook if not logged out can read the metatags of all emails you send and receive and will recommend friends based on your send/receive addresses. Linkdin does exactly the same.
Then I would say your email provider has a serious security vulnerability ..

Some of the theories here are hilarious.

wiggy001

6,545 posts

271 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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Facebook can steal your dreams unless you sleep with plugs in your ears. True story.

james_gt3rs

4,816 posts

191 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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130R said:
hen I would say your email provider has a serious security vulnerability ..

Some of the theories here are hilarious.
The Linkedin mobile app does this, grabs your contact's email addresses and looks for people to connect to. You have to give it consent though.

s1962a

Original Poster:

5,311 posts

162 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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130R said:
Some of the theories here are hilarious.
I was ultra sceptical as well till it happened to me (the listening in on convos) when I started this post. How random is it to send you an Ad for a local aircon servicing place, when you were just talking about your car being serviced and them not checking the aircon a few hours earlier? There was no googling or any electrical record of that search as my mrs leaves it all up to me and I sure didn't search for anything to do with servicing aircon!

I had another thought - as it's hot you'd expect some aircon related ads anyway, but how come I didn't get any ads for fans or house aircon?

They're out to get us, I tell ya biggrin

steveatesh

4,898 posts

164 months

Friday 22nd July 2016
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wiggy001 said:
Facebook can steal your dreams unless you sleep with plugs in your ears. True story.
hehe