Is Facebook listening to your conversations?

[@TheVerge]

Have you ever gotten a weirdly specific ad?

[@aherprasad]

The Verge I dreamt about iPhone SE and the next day ZUCC Boi gives me an ad.

[@Ryuseigan]

Yes

[@JohnDebrey]

yup, but on youtube. Friend sent me a a text of a person doing a very obscure thing I have never heard about. No hyperlink at all, and when I get on KZbin an hour later I see a recommended video of that exact thing that I have never heard about in my life. Super strange

[@casualtechreviewer1196]

I had experiences where I browsed something on shopping websites on my phone and then later that day the stuff I looked at reappear as ads on my Facebook and other websites, on my computer. So they don't just target accounts, but also the devices you use.

[@ranjanajaiswal5982]

Kevin parry got it. He had tweeted that he is getting those oddly specific ads.

[@westonkenyonmusic]

My mom was watching an exercise video on the desktop with the internet off. Her phone was sitting on the desk near it. When she later went on Facebook, she got a whole bunch of ads for the same fitness thing she was doing and she said she hasn't gotten them in a long time.

[@foxglove9]

it's kinda crazy how I can have a conversation in my own apartment about some obscure topic, then minutes later refresh my facebook feed and just happen to see a sponsored ad relating to whatever we were talking about. Doesn't happen often but frequent enough to seem like more than a coincidence.

[@nipunsharma5351]

Why are we not discussing the same thing about Google? The biggest company that started it all and has ad revenue as it's explicitly mentioned business model. Even hardware manufacturers like Apple and Samsung use their voice assistants to collect data about users. Whether they sell it or not is a different thing. Google does that, however.

[@nahbicris]

Nipun Sharma because they have better privacy policy than Facebook.

[@nipunsharma5351]

Grey Matter Yes. But after this Facebook debacle, I don't think we can trust the promises made by these companies. Our data can be deleted from our browsers, phone storage etc but from Google servers? I doubt that.

[@himanshuchamoli8269]

Grey Matter After deleting it will tell you deleted from privacy section of mygoogle account but not from there server... I paused everything Google there and I use 📱 iphone

[@JW-uv7ww]

HEY!!! don’t be evil.

[@jaredberry1213]

We are not discussing it because you are on KZbin. You might a video for that on Facebook or reddit

[@bossmarko]

cno dito ang pmunta dahil kay claro the third like nyo to kung ikaw ay isa sa pumunta

[@jmmacalalag]

They do it with messages... I was talking with my friend about roast pork and all of sudden I see roast pork ads.

[@rahoolv]

All the time. Lately, I have started seeing ads on Facebook from the websites that I have browsed on a different browser in which I haven't even logged-in on Facebook, EVER!

[@Podcastage]

I see a Blue Snowball on that desk. =)

[@pokr2934]

Snowball's definitely a lovely one😶

[@amandeep9930]

It has happened many times to me. When I am talking about something with my friend and I open facebook and suddenly my feed starts showing ads related to the topic I was talking about. Also, they definitely track your browsing history.

[@aherprasad]

ZUCC Boi knows what I'm thinking right now.

[@ByteReview]

Cool to see an inside shot of the verge office, enjoyed the videography in general on this one :)!

[@samushunter0048]

It's at the point that we use the Internet for everything so it's hard for us to try avoid these companies from tracking us no matter how many ways we try to prevent it. That's just the sad truth about it all unfortunately.

[@obeadekunle9911]

Hello everyone on here, if you’re looking for a trusted Unlocker, a good hacker, that can help you to unlock any of your devices, Apple products and others, or spaying about your partners social media. Contact superdohacher on Instagram, WhatsApp: +.360-266-7201 He’s Trusted one

[@91_C4_FL]

Twitter reads texts and banking info. I once bought a Coke with my debit card then was texting a friend about having tacos later that night. 10mins later, I get an add: “Coke goes great with tacos!”

[@Majestros]

I was talking about getting a worm farm this morning with my wife. I just saw an ad for it on my wife's phone hours later. I have never seen a worm farm ad on fb before this

[@DemiImp]

Facebook wouldn't need tons of processing power. They can parse the audio information directly on the phone.

[@DemiImp]

Honestly, only since I've removed the microphone permission on the Facebook app and the Messenger app have I stopped seeing ads of things I've only talked about with people and haven't even Google searched. It's really easy to do and 100% worth it if you are actually worried that Facebook is listening in on you. And if you ARE the type to be worried about it, then you are also likely the type to not even use any microphone feature in the first place. But really, this video is overthinking how Facebook could listen in. Identifying who is talking with geofencing is stupid. If I was Facebook, I would take audio snippets and just parse the data whenever there was time and power (battery) to do so. Do this directly on the phone and send over small text files of relevant keywords whenever you have internet. That's right, Facebook wouldn't even need an active internet connection to data collect and parse the audio.

[@TheShagans]

I know several friends that have had ads shown to them based on things they’ve said when the app isn’t even open nor searched for anything in this regard. I definitely believe they tap the mic.

[@nawab256]

Stephen Hagans Or OR, your friends never noticed the ad playing till after they talked about a certain topic. It's kinda like how I never noticed certain cars till my friend got one. Now I see that car everywhere.

[@076657]

Have you ever heard of a thing called "coincidence"?

[@076657]

nawab256 very good point

[@_MHS]

It’s not a coincidence if it happens like 3-5 times a week! It even happens through WhatsApp I feel (which is Facebook owned)

[@danielgillen4474]

100%. Just start talking about something random and watch the ads appear.

[@bricemilleson]

Wrong, Facebook is 100% using our microphones to place ads. I recently was on the phone with my girlfriend and mentioned an attraction I wanted to take her too and 5 minutes later after ending the call, an AD for this attraction showed up on my feed. No searches or anything, all I did was say the word of the attraction over the phone. This has happened MANY TIMES

[@riyazuo]

maybe you've searched about the attraction beforehand.

[@attomicchicken]

More likely it's the 3rd party tracking. You've probably search deal websites. Probably they cross referenced a post or poll or other identifying piece of data. Data travels from site to site, service to service. We like to think we are random to the point software can pick up on the idiosyncrasies

[@TheCtheg]

Iff its 100% prow it. 10 of thousends off ways to do it eand not hard.

[@bricemilleson]

Nope, it popped up in my head while on the phone, I'd never searched for it before mentioning it too her. I'm still trying to explain this because all I ever did was speak the words. I know for an absolute fact I haven't done any searching whatsoever for this place until after the ad appeared.

[@zeighy]

Funny thing, maybe your GF looked it up after the call and Facebook put the call and her looking it up right after together and figured... "ah, he must have mentioned it to her... let's try showing it an ad to him about it." they don't need to use your microphone.

[@DZDNDR]

I'd like to see some more!! Keep up the good work. And by the way, where's the first season at?

[@TheVerge]

Thanks for watching! You can see the first season here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5O0e4F4e8eqmrs -Ashley

[@DZDNDR]

The Verge Ah I see, those aren't in specific playlist, I've seen some of them. Thank you Ashley.

[@Teld]

A few weeks ago I was talking to my wife about buying a new knife set and mentioned it a few times. The next day all of her Facebook ads were for knife set, though we never used her phone to search for knives, and I don't use Facebook or any of its services. I want to believe this explanation, and I'm sure the experts know what they're talking about. But it's difficult to ignore this coincidence.

[@TheVerge]

Hey! Thanks for watching! So here’s the thing: deleting your account won’t stop Facebook from tracking you. Learn about shadow profiles, the data Facebook collects even without an account, below. -Ashley Carman bit.ly/2qvRgFd

[@dennischristopher9879]

Are we just forgetting that Snowden told us all of this years ago? It is recording us and everyone at all times, it doesn't need to specifically recognize us by our voice to target an ad, it's as simple as recognizing keywords said by any audio, including your television. This just seems to be an overly complicated dive into areas most weren't thinking about. It's not just FaceBook it's your actual phone/devices, for example you can find saved audio from your phone if you haven't specifically turned it off. Also House Of Cards had this entire Cambridge analytics plot line in the most recent season, way before the news broke. It's not conspiracy, it's reality. The example given in the beginning of an ad targeted to her about a musical, though she doesn't search for them or go to them, yet they spoke about it and an ad popped up coincidentally? There isn't much of a jump in logic and reason to figure this out.

[@DavidFregoli]

Just got back home from meeting a potential buyer for a piece of land I own. He asked if it would be any harder to get a permit if the house he builds there is a wooden one. So we talk briefly about wooden homes (which I have no particular interest in and have never googled as far as I can remember). I get home, open Facebook, and guess what...an ad for wooden houses....

[@noahwilliams9998]

The notion that you can tell if Facebook was listening to you by using a packet sniffer is false. Encrypted HTTPS traffic only exposes headers-not packet contents. Furthermore, due to advancements in compression algorithms, an audio stream (especially if it, instead of being always-on, was triggered by certain wakewords) would generate a minuscule and negligible about of uplink traffic were it properly executed. With that said-this video misses what is in my opinion the most important fact to prove that Facebook isn’t doing this: on iOS devices, it literally can’t, at least not in the background, because of the design of the OS. On Android, the story is a little different; the next release of the OS will outright block all background use of the camera and mic. With that said-both major platforms currently have a permissions system that allows the user to revoke access to the microphone-which everyone should do anyways.

[@evergreen-]

6:45 ... and that’s the root of the problem. I don’t have to pay you to gain my right for privacy.

[@alchemist519]

1:47 taped it

[@xVaughn]

But google does the same. It wouldn't be shocking fb does the same tbh .

[@riyazuo]

every big tech company does

[@sirsusgamer]

Google is more careful unlike Facebook

[@xVaughn]

Ukima9 I'll agree

[@ArgentiumTea]

Compared to Google facebook barely have any data on us. But unlike Facebook Google services are really useful every day.

[@TarantulaHouse]

The resolution is pretty simple, go to the apps in your settings and don’t allow Facebook, what’s app, Instagram access to your microphone, camera, selected photos & location. As well as any google run apps, including google, KZbin etc. Also switch off app tracking.

[@timothyco0per]

"...not a good look for us, but you're not paying us for this."

[@castrochristian103]

I believe fb is really doing everything they can to know our every move.

[@ninjanerdstudent6937]

I have never viewed ads in a web browser. What are these ads you speak of?

[@kathywatt7555]

Two problems with that question put to Facebook. (1) Didn't ask if the microphones were turned on. The question asked was whether is was being done for a specific reason. (2) Only asked about microphones on phones. The question should have been broader to include desktops, laptops, ipads, etc..

[@abdulbasitshaikh637]

That wise conclusion towards the end says is all.

[@emilianocaballeroh]

I dont believe they arent listening. But Im also not shure if Facebook is to blame, I think it could also be the phone itself and/or google doing it. I had a strange experience recently, I wen't to a rural city for 4 days without internet, without celphone service ( I had stoped paying it) nor the Phone location ON, and when I came back home I got a google mail telling me the places I had been in and it knew I had gone to that faraway rural town. I have no clue how it could know without me connecting to anything.

[@megan.e.amato.]

Wow.... That's definitely creepy.

[@OMA2k]

That's because the GPS doesn't need an Internet connection to work so it geolocalized you and cached your different locations there in the phone's storage. Then when you came back to a place with Internet connection your phone uploaded all that collected data in a few seconds, then Google Maps showed it to you. It's called Google Maps Timeline (it shows you where in the World you've ever been), and you can disable it if you want. You can take a look to all Google knows about your travels here: www.google.com/maps/timeline

[@emilianocaballeroh]

Thanks OMA2k, I was just reading about the fact that when the phone's GPS is off it's still tracking you, it just lowers the amount of data it uses drastically. So Google still knows just by carrying the phone, no configurations or internet needed. scary hu? :$

[@emilianocaballeroh]

I'm watching the locations on the link, it even knows i went to hike a mountain a couple months ago, it marked the spot of my visit right in the middle of nowhere.

[@louannv8608]

😮😯😟😲 scary!

[@brc4867]

Why do you have your camera taped while Skyping with him?

[@nikhilk2809]

brc lmao ikr maybe it is a playback

[@DemiImp]

It's for show. The video was composited onto a picture of a laptop. The same thing with the video of her talking on the phone in the hallway. The video of the guy talking had cuts but the hallway didn't.

[@amajeet]

Theres a picture of Mark Fuckerberg on his laptop and taped camera lens and also has his mic device on his laptop covered...

[@Flandersned08]

Call me paranoid, but I'm not buying this. How much is facebook paying you to make this video?

[@HanieBCreations]

You're NOT paranoid.

[@vincentortiz4077]

I know right they're obviously paid to defend them the verge is very biased

[@jamescole3524]

truth always comes out...takes time

[@thetruepatriot7733]

Yup

[@thedocduo42]

Loved this episode. Informative. Thanks.

[@Live01Legends]

Your phone microphone pics up things you say and then sells your data to advertisers. It is true.

[@mickjones8757]

I've suspected it for a while now i totally believe it

[@belle369]

My mother once said how she wanted to get Wheat Thins from the store, and an hour later she got an ad for wheat thins... creepy

[@michaelfardoulis9438]

It would only have to pic up key words, to feed an algorithm for an add. And then only send particular data not the full conversation

[@omniart5714]

They scan Messenger for info for ad suggestions.. Example - if you talk with your friend about new gaming laptops, you will see more laptop ads...

[@meloD30]

OffTopic: I'm 95% sure Ashley's desk isn't in the middle of an isle like that. YES this is the kind of thing I think about. YES I'm picturing the process of setting up that desk. YES I'll rethink my priorities... After I spend a respectable amount of time musing on the composition choices.

[@ruimindo3579]

The pink tape in the laptop camera it's a great touch.

[@hendrikmintarno]

Is that a tape on your macbook's camera?

[@deepdoodle1]

Yes, I think they do ......

[@user-hk3ej4hk7m]

People don't want to pay for stuff and then complain about the TOS they agreed on.

[@sjbr101]

Ok so I'm having a conversation with my wife who is stood in front of me about visiting southend in Essex, uk. I haven't been there for over 13 years, now I'm getting ads for hotels and events in southend. I live 200 miles away. I haven't searched or looked up anything as it's very unlikely we would go, neither has my wife. This was a 30 second conversation.

[@ILoveGrilledCheese]

Facebook would have to fight Google over the usage of your microphone. They’re already using it.

[@RizzoDaManiac]

All you have to do is say out loud “ I am hungry, I want some fast food” and within seconds a food ad will pop up. The proof that they are listening is most easily proven when what you say out loud is an impulse buy and the ad could be useless within minutes so facebook shows it much faster.

[@kiantamar]

*TL:DR* Don't need to watch. *Obviosly YES*

[@EnriquePascual1989]

Great topic! Thanks for talking about it.

[@adityaradisty5542]

Facebook, google , chrome, instagram, youtube they do the same thing and also integrated each other. They dont need to listen to you

[@ronniedai3683]

I love all the details, cracked iPhone and pink tape on your MacBook camera

[@davidfuchs9636]

I uninstalled the Facebook app because it was collecting roughly 85 megabytes of data every day when I wasn't using the app. It also was always on in the background and using most of my phone's resources. I want to know what that app was doing before I put it back on my phone. It was obviously collecting data but what data? When you install the app it specifically says it can access your camera and microphone and even make phone calls without your authorization so that pretty much says it right there. I figured out if it was recording everything I said it would be about 85 megabytes.

[@rahulsaha2859]

It's really scary ... Google and Facebook knows more about me than myself... Today i said polarised sunglasses and believe me I got an email about a sale on sunglasses, that scared the sht out of me

[@TheMarmeladian]

It is. I have installed the app and seen the mic proc in the data of the phone. Uninstalled and it stopped simple as that. Experts my butt.

[@SweetRiverBaynes]

Her comment: "The Verge has more than 100 trackers, which is kind of not a good look for us, but you also don't pay us for this content." Makes me question why people have such an issue with Facebook. You don't pay for Facebook, you should expect it to track you for ads, just in the same way The Verge does.

[@thanhattrinh6212]

When I search for something on Google, Facebook knows what it is and sends me lots of ads about it.

[@Trepur349]

Why do people find ad targetting to be scary? I like it when I see ads for something I want...

[@reuelrdj1]

She does such a good job need more vids from here

[@gyrosean]

Being served ads and being tracked to this degree are not the same thing. I don't use an ad blocker...yet, because I want to support the publishers and creators whose content I consume. And while such targeting is sold as "more effective", I would wager that if publishers en masse stopped supporting such targeting practices, CPM rates would not see significant decreases. Reach is ultimately the arbiter of success in terms of advertising dollars, so while targeting may make it "easier" to sell to brands or agencies, all that really matters is scale. I owe you my attention as a reader of The Verge, not my data.

[@chrismailer]

People used to think it was weird that I didn’t have Facebook... now look.

[@ziad9596]

honestly i'd reather see an ad that am interested in than to see a random ad that just annoys me

[@minhtrinh282]

7:40 Wrong. You can still use Whatsapp and Instagram without a Facebook account. Data from Instagram does get cross-referenced with your Facebook account. But Whatsapp is still operating separately.

[@RackaApps]

Google has been recording your voice several times without even using the google assistant app

[@JeffHawthorne]

My friend talked about cluedo. 45 mins cluedo ad on my fb feed.

[@3ofakinddrummer]

Deleted Facebook and WhatsApp after 8 years and having about 500 friends. Best decision I‘ve done. Instagram is next in line.

[@MattSpaul]

For those that don't know Intelligent Voice makes software specifically to parse voice data on work phones to cut down on insider trading, corporate espionage etc.

[@BRM202]

Absolutely possible and they absolutely do it.

[@professorgrasstov]

so you're telling us facebook isn't spying on us while having a macbook with covered webcam?

[@heyitsishmael]

Yeah I’ve been noticing this since last summer. Me and my gf we’re talking about coffee creamer one day and the next day there was an ad for that specific coffee creamer. International Delight Chocolate. And before last July I’ve never had Oscar Meyer products but my girlfriend suggested we buy Oscar Meyer hotdogs and I remember as we were eating them I saw an ad for them on Twitter. Like what the heck man.

[@sier127]

I always drink coffee while watching youtube, apparently I always get starbucks ad. this is weird.

[@MartinLengyel]

1. Facebook tracks everyone, even people without a profile 2. Deleting a Facebook profile doesn’t affect WhatsApp and they can’t share data between each other 3. Safari on Apple devices has a pretty great tracking blocker 4. Facebook did use mics for a while to send audio to their servers while using the Facebook app, to match music around you, similar to Shazam to easily tag it in your status update Great video, missing some facts tho

[@MartinLengyel]

* 2. applies only in the EU

[@TechWiz1983]

On an iPhone they can’t tap the microphone unless you give the app permission to access the microphone. This goes for every other app. Don’t give permission if you have concerns, pretty simple really.

[@calvinpage5773]

"are they using your microphone?" "no, they say they don't and all evidence points towards them not" "ok lets look into the feasibility of this disproven concept for the next 5 minutes"

[@dugusmc]

So for all social media platforms, and I just checked today, you go into apps and permissions, and cut off phone, camera, etc. as you want...I have, and FB app has NOT crashed or complained. Check yours out today.

[@ghostworm1764]

The question entitled should go without asking nevertheless I'm simply curious as to hear what you have discovered if not what I may already know

[@HeroesGloryUA]

Is the music from the Mr Robot soundtrack? And more importantly: where can I stream it?

[@Reconseal4050]

No. But you are doing searches for stuff and advertisers are using that data to put it on your fb account in hopes you will buy their products.

[@robertwimer]

2:28 I love the tape over the webcam.

[@kenmiller8488]

I'm

[@kenmiller8488]

W

[@obrolanmalam66]

In my opinion, it's not just Facebook spying. Applications that you install as well.

[@Vikingdescendent]

All Facebook users should cancel their accounts for at least one day or more as a form of protest, or until they are given compensation. 50% of Facebook's billions would be a good start. What does Google have to say about all this? How much spying are all the apps out there responsible for? Lots! There should be an 'on off switch' that really keeps our privacy safe!

[@DuudeWhatDoesMineSay]

99% sure they do. How about actually trying if they do by testing it instead of asking random "experts" that talk about it in theory. "Oh Facebook wouldn't do that, they don't need to" wtf who are you to decide that. Thumbs down, next time do a some real research with critical thinking.

[@legendp2011]

They could get all that information from voice....IF THE SOFTWARE AND COMPUTER POWER WAS THERE TO DO IT CONTINUOUSLY (just try turning on KZbins own "auto translate captions CC" on any video where someone isn't speaking directly to camera and see what happens).

[@TheMarmeladian]

The rest of what you said just scares me.

[@ThejewelCraft0100]

Operating Systems have measures against this. Besides, it takes a lot of storage and power. And there's context, and don't mention the fact that we have enough data laying around that they don't need it.

[@Hkhawkins]

Didn't we just learn that Facebook accesses Android call logs? They probably knew that your friend called you and knew they had been to or were interested in the musical and then fed you the ad.

[@Eddy-ld7uh]

You can just press "don't allow" for Your mic in Facebook

[@clydemcclain6618]

You know. I do believe Snowden would disagree with the results of this video. In fact these tracking and monitoring methods are not just possible but are still being used.

[@DavidRivera-gc3hi]

Blame Angela!?!?!...omg...but seriously, great reporting!!!

[@efovex]

Turn on auto-generated subtitles for the meta experience.

[@stevendon9682]

I’ve made online orders and now I’ve been advertised Honey... an app I think that searches promo codes. 🙄

[@kztech1319]

To be honest, I even think their tracking isn't totally sufficient. I am into technology, so Facebook pushes ads about Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ since the day it got launched. However, I have already bought one of them and use that on Facebook, would they be dumb enough to continue showing me that ad even though they probably knew I wont buy another one?

[@zxkearlsaint]

What about android P's automatic music naming?

[@bubblesproductions9449]

Okay but if you ain't worried about people sneaking into your personal life, what's your camera covered for?

[@AZmotion]

Yeh. They are tracking you. No big deal. It’s called “Cookies”. Nearly every single website uses Cookies, Including Twitter and other Social Media

[@mawreexio]

I wouldn’t mind paying for the services I use or websites I read, if that meant nobody’s tracking everything I do.

[@tanlei2089]

Such beautiful voice ❤️

[@TimFuzail]

AND NOW A MESSAGE FROM YOUR SPONSOR, FACEBOOK!!!

[@elinaolsson6420]

me and my friends were talking about a soda called nocco and they said they didn't like it, but I said I liked Nocco tropical. The next fkn day I get an ad with a big picture on a Nocco Tropical. WTH

[@dojodragon7772]

I LOVE THIS VIDEO!