In recent years, many people have accused the Facebook application of spying on our conversations. Indeed, when we see the advertisements that appear on our news feed, we have the impression that Mark Zuckerberg's site knows each of its users perfectly. In addition, it sometimes happens that we talk about a subject on the phone or directly with a friend, and that we come across an advertisement that talks about this same theme. An experience that did not fail to disturb a user. His story was relayed by Wales Online.
Several Internet users are wondering if Facebook is able to listen to their conversations and analyze certain information in order to offer targeted advertisements on the application. Among them: Tyler Mears, a woman who believes she is being spied on.
Relevant questions
For several years, Mark Zuckerberg's site has been suspected of spying on its users using their microphone. In 2018, the company's CEO denied the proposal to Gary Peters, a U.S. senator. "You are talking about a conspiracy theory that goes around saying that we are listening to what is going on in your microphone and that we are using it for advertising. We don't do that, ”insisted Mark Zuckerberg. However, these accusations seem legitimate since the site offers targeted advertisements deemed suspicious. The story of Tyler Mears can seem both curious and petrifying.
After purchasing a motorhome, the woman was talking to her partner about a specific product, a female urinal suitable for moving around in the van. A conversation a priori brief and harmless that led to a laugh before going to oblivion. The next day, Tyler was browsing his Facebook feed and was surprised to see an ad for female urinals appear.
Later, a colleague of hers told her that she had been subjected to a similar experience. In the days that followed, Tyler received a video on Youtube showing a man who wanted to stab a police officer. Outraged, she showed the sequence to her partner with whom she discussed the fact that the police officer was lucky to wear a bulletproof vest. A few hours later, while browsing Facebook, Tyler was frightened to see a special advertisement for a bulletproof vest.
One would have thought that Facebook had gathered this information on Youtube, but the video did not mention this object. Only her conversation with her spouse was likely to contain this information. Outraged by what was happening to her, the woman sent a message to Mark Zuckerberg's website telling her about her accusations.
"I explained that I thought Facebook was targeting ads by accessing my phone microphone and told them about specific cases from last week," said Tyler, who even sent screenshots of the ads offered by the site.
Facebook sent her a link to the editorial page where she could read "Facebook doesn’t use your phone’s microphone to target ads or to change what you see in the news feed." However, the app said "we only access your microphone if you have given us permission and if you are actively using a specific feature that requires audio."
The woman’s interests on Facebook do not understand what the app offers her on advertisements, which may seem suspicious. In addition, Tyler had not searched for urinals or body armor on Google or any other social network.
Protect your data on social networks
Some may consider that protecting your data on social networks is a paradoxical measure. Many users share their privacy online. However, there are still some precautions to take to avoid too much personal information being at the mercy of applications.
On Facebook in particular, it is advisable to avoid sharing sensitive information such as your phone number, address, political opinions or even your religion. In addition, it is recommended that you check the privacy settings to confirm whether or not you want to share certain information about yourself.
You can also set up your account to limit the targeting of advertisements by deleting your interests.