Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#181

Post by tamana » Wed, May 25, 2016, 4:14 PM UTC

dzink wrote: post #175

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 pa…

This is absurd . If they were secretly recording you they wouldn't obviously throw it in your face immediately.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#182

Post by superuser2 » Wed, May 25, 2016, 4:16 PM UTC

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.

On iOS you can simply not grant it contacts, microphone, or location access.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#183

Post by mmastrac » Wed, May 25, 2016, 4:22 PM UTC

mikestew wrote: post #165

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…

You hand the cashier a credit card, she thinks you're cute, too. Cashier reads name on credit card, wonders "if he's on Facebook", looks you up and there's your connection. Something something Occam's Razor.

If Facebook has access to nearby Bluetooth device MAC addresses and your MAC addresses, I'd argue that this is actually quite likely.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#184

Post by wernercd » Wed, May 25, 2016, 4:23 PM UTC

giancarlostoro wrote: post #177

cylinder wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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,…

Which is why root is important...

Top 3 reasons: removing "crap", backing up crap and real adblocking.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#185

Post by recursive » Wed, May 25, 2016, 4:23 PM UTC

astazangasta wrote: post #167

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Playing devils advocate here - isn't that supposed to be helpful? As in, what an amazing capability to be able to do that.

How is it helpful to have a computer tell me who I should be friends with?

It's not. But it could be useful for a computer to tell you who it thinks you might already be friends with, so you can find them on facebook.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#186

Post by Spivak » Wed, May 25, 2016, 4:27 PM UTC

jgalt212 wrote: post #88

HappyTypist wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Engineers have access to code repositories.

all repositories?

Facebook apparently uses a single monolithic mercurial repository for everything so it would really be the repository.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#187

Post by [deleted] » Wed, May 25, 2016, 4:28 PM UTC

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.

[deleted]

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#188

Post by mikestew » Wed, May 25, 2016, 4:33 PM UTC

mmastrac wrote: post #183

mikestew wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You hand the cashier a credit card, she thinks you're cute, too. Cashier reads name on credit card, wonders "if he's on Facebook", looks you up and there's your connection. Something something Occam's Razor.

If Facebook has access to nearby Bluetooth device MAC addresses and your MAC addresses, I'd argue that this is actually quite likely.

I was about to ask why Bluetooth would come into play, but then realized that I replied to the wrong comment (the intent was to reply to the one about the "super cute cashier"). Though giving some thought, your way would work, too. Assuming that one can get the MAC address on a mobile device (never tried on either of the major platforms).

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#189

Post by khedoros » Wed, May 25, 2016, 4:38 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #123

khedoros wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some devices are always listening for "OK, Google", if you turn that feature on (Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Samsung Note 4, according to a Google help page [0]). I vaguely remember reading something about a subprocessor in those devices, looking for that phrase, to cut down on battery usage. Most of the speech recognition processing happens remotely on Google's servers, though. [0] https://support.google.com/websearch/ans…

Funny, I'd actually want that feature in my phone (S7). It could easily turn Google Now into single-room Echo alternative. Without it, Google Now's voice features are pretty useless - if I have the phone unlocked and in my hands, I may as well type what I want and get to it faster.

I've got it disabled on my phone, and you couldn't pay me to have something like an Echo at home. I feel like it would be another underused tech device I'd have to find an outlet for, and I don't ever want to feel reliant on cloud services.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#190

Post by krupan » Wed, May 25, 2016, 4:43 PM UTC

superuser2 wrote: post #182

cylinder wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

On iOS you can simply not grant it contacts, microphone, or location access.

This should also be true for android as of version 6. I haven't tried installing the facebook app to make extra sure, but I get to choose with every other app I use.