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Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

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Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#231

Post by dhimes »

polartx wrote: post #227
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…

A friend of mine was having a discussion with a contractor working in his yard about something he was entirely unfamiliar with--natural gas powered grills. Having never researched the topic before, he was a little unnerved later to have Facebook serving him natural gas grill content ads. (still having not ever google'd them or anything)

That is fucking creepy. Whoa.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#232

Post by zyxley »

clavalle wrote: post #217
astazangasta wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, since people largely agree on who is attractive, does this mean FB would be recommended this poor lady to all the schlubby loners who wander through her checkout line? "The digital pimp, hard at work."

Probably only the ones that meet her rough demographic profile.

There's something scary yet fascinating in the idea of a proactive automated matchmaker.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#233

Post by MildlySerious »

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 can confirm that Facebook suggests people that have looked up your name.

I don't use FB on my phone, never have. Hence no location/IP/network data. I have not filled out where I work, but searched the place up once before.

A coworker who wanted to friend me and presumably searched for my name still gets suggested as possible friend a year after I quit the place. We have no possible mutual friends, I have never been on his profile, or searched the names of any of my coworkers.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#234

Post by clavalle »

zyxley wrote: post #232
clavalle wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably only the ones that meet her rough demographic profile.

There's something scary yet fascinating in the idea of a proactive automated matchmaker.

As long as there is nothing forcing people into it, I think it could be great.

We don't know what we don't know to paraphrase that famous romantic Donald Rumsfeld. Who knows if the person behind you on the rollercoaster or grabbing a taco might be the yin to your yang.

I just wish Waze could tell me who my ideal carpool partners might be.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#235

Post by get2zpointer »

imbeau wrote: post #169
joshstrange wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Besides the creepiness, the law around recording people without them knowing (one-party consent) is state-by-state

To circumvent the one-party consent issue, he could just write a Terms of Service on the inside of his shirt that includes a clause about "Engaging in conversation as a use of the Services" that implies agreement with the Terms of Service.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#236

Post by cylinder »

dionidium wrote: post #200
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.

I actually tried this on iOS a few months ago. The experience was far worse -- felt slower, less responsive, harder to navigate -- so I re-installed the app.

My Facebook experience is not very involved. I just scroll through the news feed, look at some photos/comments. Works fine for me, but if you are a heavier user, the app will of course be more fluid.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#237

Post by AndrewKemendo »

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 telling you. Telling you would be automatically making you friends.

It's a suggestion based on factors along a social graph.

If it's right, great! Saved you time from searching, or nudged you to create a stronger communications channel than you previously had (ostensibly).

If it's wrong, you just ignore it.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#238

Post by animex »

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…

This was more than likely caused by the other person Facebook searching for her profile.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#239

Post by animex »

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.

There are dating apps entirely based on this model.

Re: Is Facebook eavesdropping on phone conversations?

#240

Post by eric_h »

superuser2 wrote: post #219
eric_h wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Not if the app is certificate pinning (and from a security perspective, it ought to).

Is this a common thing for apps to do, yet? I was under the impression that there are some corporate networks which treat MitMing ssl connections as a business necessity. Would Facebook et. al. allow their apps to stop functioning on networks like that?
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