We’ve all been there: we discuss something with our family or friends and then see an ad about it on Facebook. So, we all wonder how Facebook delivers such timely ads.
Do they really listen to their users via microphones?
This is a tech conspiracy theory that’s been present since the first ad on this social network: our smartphones are eavesdropping on all of our conversations. And, all of us, at one or another point, have experienced the synchronicity of talking about something and then seeing a Facebook ad about it.
It can be unnerving and make you believe that this app is surveilling you! Is this the truth or not? Let’s try and find out!
Is Facebook Really Listening to Our Private Conversations?
Facebook tracks its users in various ways and we don’t even realize it. It does it via sophisticated demographic and location data and presents us with ads.
One Facebook user from Atlanta, Lily Leiva, experienced the feeling of being listened to by Facebook. She briefly mentioned the Finnish Baby Box while on a dinner with a friend.
The next day, her feed already had an ad for the $500 maternity box. It was a bad experience for her because she felt like Facebook was trying to predict her behavior.
According to her theory, this app pushed the ad because she was with a friend who liked the product. Though Facebook claims that they don’t listen to people’s conversations, they don’t say that they don’t track users, according to Leiva.
This social network is very open about the tracking part. A lot of users know that whenever you like a post, leave a comment, or tag a friend, Facebook is given ammunition to present more ads. Every check-in we make, every hashtag we use, and every comment we leave is this app’s fuel.
Also, they admit to collecting content, communications, and other information, including photos, videos, accounts, hashtags, and groups.
It records which posts, videos, photos, and other content we’re checking and also collects our payment info, like credit or debit card numbers, and billing and shipping information.
Privacy advocate Paul Bischoff explains that there are numerous ways in which Facebook can target users with ads on the basis of the collected data and algorithms. Facebook can track what users do on other websites and apps that use the login, plugins, and widgets of Facebook.
The single sign-on option by Facebook is another doorway into data. If you insert a Facebook account to sign on to some website or subscribe to an email, Facebook can gather data from the things you like, the web pages you view, or the products that are in your shopping cart.
This social network also tracks us via our phones if we allow it, so they know where we are, even if the app is closed. It leaves behind cookie data on the device which serves to “track or create personalized products that are unique and relevant to users.”
There are some steps users can take to reduce the tracking, but if one uses the app and interacts with people, Facebook is able to get most of what it needs. According to Facebook’s Location Settings FAQ, they use things like events, check-ins, and information about one’s internet connection.
How to Change Your Privacy Settings on Facebook
To lower the interest of this app in what you do, begin by refusing it to access your location data. If you have an Apple iOS device, enter Settings and go to Facebook in the Apps section. You have three options to choose from, that is, Always, While Using the App, and Never.
If you have an Android device, go to the Facebook app and then in the Manage Settings and set the location tracking to Never.
To stop ad tracking, click the button at the top right to enter the app’s settings and look for the Ads section. Even if you choose Never to all of the categories and sub-categories, Facebook explains that you will keep seeing ads for other reasons like your age, gender, location, activity, etc.
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