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Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

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Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#171

Post by eric_h »

madmax96 wrote: post #115
Herald_MJ wrote: post #108

Can't speak for Android, but on iOS it is not possible for an app to "listen" to your microphone unless it is in the foreground, and you have explicitly given the app permission to do this (the first time the app attempts to do so). It can also be revoked at any time without removing the app. The only way around this restriction would be using a private API Apple could have provided. Given that Apple has even integra…

It'd be interesting if there were a party with a JailBroken iPhone and the Facebook App installed who would check the network traffic.

Would a jailbreak really be necessary for this? Couldn't you just install a certificate on the phone and MitM the https traffic?

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#172

Post by astazangasta »

dpcx wrote: post #148
michael_h wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

google-fu: https://www.facebook.com/help/iphone-app/369513256545845 "No, we don't record your conversations. If you choose to turn on this feature, we'll only use your microphone to identify the things you're listening to or watching based on the music and TV matches we're able to identify. If this feature is turned on, it's only active when you're writing a status update." So, not as bad as the news article suggests…

No more creepy than Shazam or SoundHound. You'd be amazed at the number of people that want to share the song they're listening to, or the show they're watching, as part of a status update.

This should happen based on active request, not passively by snoop-mic.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#173

Post by a_small_island »

joshstrange wrote: post #151
koyote wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very off-topic but what is your real-world use case for such an app? The site lists a couple but most of those seem to make more sense when using a recording app in the traditional, explicit, way (e.g. "we are having a meeting, I will record this meeting").

So honestly it's best use case is "gotcha". As in you didn't know I was recording and you said something stupid and now I have a recording. Likewise if you are talking to someone and you say something along the lines of "Are you sure about that?" or "Can you confirm this is what/how you want me to do this" and then you record the audio for later incase they come back and say "I never said that". For myself I went the…

How often do you record other people?

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#174

Post by eunoia »

astazangasta wrote: post #164
anysz wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We had no mutual friends. I actually have 0 friends on Facebook. I use it as a media outlet. All my recommended friends come from my iOS Contacts, by phone number. So the fact she popped up is absurd

How is this possible even in principle? Location tracking might be one explanation - they certainly have access to the data - but it seems implausible for Facebook to be suggesting you friend every goddamn person you walk past. They couldn't have known you thought she was attractive, so what gives?

Healthy skepticism aside,

> They couldn't have known you thought she was attractive

Are you so sure? To me (no ML experience) that seems a somewhat solvable problem if you have a competency in ML and Facebook's data.

Just imagine if Tinder shared data back...

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#175

Post by dzink »

They've done this to me as well. Months ago a conversation with a medical key word I have never used in my life led to that key word being added to my "interests" on Facebook that evening (i groomed my interest tags to make FB more bearable at the time). That day I realised they must be listening somehow and uninstalled the FB app. Also, every time I add or update a phone contact on iPhone, I am asked to add my FB password - they are digging where they don't belong.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#176

Post by PeCaN »

astazangasta wrote: post #164
anysz wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We had no mutual friends. I actually have 0 friends on Facebook. I use it as a media outlet. All my recommended friends come from my iOS Contacts, by phone number. So the fact she popped up is absurd

How is this possible even in principle? Location tracking might be one explanation - they certainly have access to the data - but it seems implausible for Facebook to be suggesting you friend every goddamn person you walk past. They couldn't have known you thought she was attractive, so what gives?

My guess:

Since anysz mentioned he has 0 friends, there will be no social graph recommendations. Thus less-confident recommendations will show up, including spending some minutes in the same location as someone. It could then consider other factors—opposite genders, relatively close in age, maybe similar interests.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#177

Post by giancarlostoro »

cylinder wrote: post #127
nutmeg wrote: post #116

Another anecdotal-data-of-sample-size-one, my wife was at a bar and struck up a conversation with another person to whom she had no connections. After she left, Facebook suggested this person as a friend. The other person may have searched for her on Facebook, causing her to be listed as a possible friend. Or perhaps Facebook uses location data to group people that are in the same location for an extended period of t…

Why do people keep the Facebook app installed? I use it in the web browser and it works just fine, while sort of sandboxing it within Chrome.

Because my phone wont let me uninstall it [0] and it's not just on my specific phone, other manufacturers do the same. I also cannot uninstall Amazon or the 5 other completely useless apps it brings, Facebook Messenger and Instagram are ingrained into my phone which is annoying. I wish rooting and setting up a custom ROM wasn't a painful experience or I would do both, but I like getting updates, which rooting stops, and I'm not too sure a ROM supports updating properly.

[0]: https://www.reddit.com/r/androidapps/comments/3catb0/i_cant_...

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#178

Post by ArtDev »

komali2 wrote: post #166
nutmeg wrote: post #116

Another anecdotal-data-of-sample-size-one, my wife was at a bar and struck up a conversation with another person to whom she had no connections. After she left, Facebook suggested this person as a friend. The other person may have searched for her on Facebook, causing her to be listed as a possible friend. Or perhaps Facebook uses location data to group people that are in the same location for an extended period of t…

I once tried out Tan-tan, China's version of Twitter. I was idly swiping away until I saw, on one girl, "you have crossed paths with her twice!" underneath which was a Baidu maps frame showing Balboa Park station. Swiftly uninstalled.

Interesting. So it is technically possible.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#179

Post by Kiro »

cylinder wrote: post #127
nutmeg wrote: post #116

Another anecdotal-data-of-sample-size-one, my wife was at a bar and struck up a conversation with another person to whom she had no connections. After she left, Facebook suggested this person as a friend. The other person may have searched for her on Facebook, causing her to be listed as a possible friend. Or perhaps Facebook uses location data to group people that are in the same location for an extended period of t…

Why do people keep the Facebook app installed? I use it in the web browser and it works just fine, while sort of sandboxing it within Chrome.

Notifications, chat bubbles etc.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#180

Post by grkvlt »

lunula wrote: post #27
onewaystreet wrote: post #5

No. This is one of those tech urban legends that keeps popping up. Facebook does have an opt-in feature that can identify what music, tv show or movie you are listening to or watching, but that's it. http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/05/a-new-optional-way-to-sh... https://www.facebook.com/help/iphone-app/369513256545845

This could be rigorously studied. A group of people could attempt to plant false advertising opportunities in their speech and then measure the frequency at which related ads/posts arrive in their feed. I would trust something like this more than an assertion by FB that this is not happening.

Not just rigorously; easily studied, and checked. I haven't seen a single response here that says something along the lines of: 'Hey, I just did exactly the same as they reported the woman doing in the article, and she's right!' but instead, plenty of FOAF-type anecdotes about sort-of similar things. So, has nobody here bothered to check because they all trust news10.com as an impeccable source of technology news?
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