Is Facebook "Listening" ?

Originally posted by Argyll
reply to post by SilentKoala

 

All the more reason to be as diligent as possible in preventing yourself from being tracked and advertised to. Solutions are widely available if one simply knows how to search.

Why?.....you are not being tracked for any nefarious reasons, in fact you are not being tracked at all unless you click on one of the ads, and then it is likely only a 24 hour cookie linked to an ad you have shown an interest in.....contextual advertising is a good thing!.....If you use the internet to browse your interests and hobbies, and in the course of that browsing you are presented with ads that relate to your browsing habits and are therefore relevant to your interests....how is that a bad thing?

Advertising on the internet is here to stay!.....surely it's not unreasonable to be presented with ads that are of interest to you instead of the irrelevant ads that were spammed to internet users several years ago?........Does anyone who watches TV have any control over the ads you see there?

No but that's why we have mute buttons and Tivo. It's annoying as all hell to be constantly bombarded by people telling me I need this or that. If I decide I want or need something, I will at that time conduct my own research on what I want to buy and where. I don't need a million voices constantly telling me I need their product or service. It's just like the bums on the street constantly begging you for money, they won't shut up no matter how many times you say no. You can't get anywhere these days without hearing "spare some change sir?" or "blah blah blah for only $9.99!" everywhere you go.

Originally posted by anon4m05
I understand the concept of targeted advertising, and indeed its benifits, aswell as its implications.

But I must clarify;

This was real life conversation, which took place in my kitchen. Spoken word.
There was no clicking. There was no searching.

The Ketchup thing was sort of a side point, the conversation itself was more about Kraft Dinner.

This is why I chose the word "listening"... not in figurative sense (i.e. monitoring text conversation and etc on the internet), but in the literal sense.

It is known fact that your microphone can be activated remotely by spyware, Google has been doing it for years. It wouldn't surprise me if FB has the ability to do so.

reply to post by SilentKoala



Yes I've heard of this ability, as well as people being able to remotely turn on and operate web cameras (which is why I put my laptop in the closet whenever I'm finished using it lol).


In my kitchen though? There was no computer around!

reply to post by anon4m05


Ahh.. if you indeed mean listening as hearing your voices and conversation. Totally doable techwise (I heard they just released a new "feature" that you can send voice messages through facebook) but at the moment I would assume the amount of network bandwidth and CPU power to process them would be so immense, it's not feasible, unless they're letting some law enforcement official to eavesdrop certain targets.

Generally, if you have a connected webcam with a build in microphone (as they usually have) it's not too difficult technically to activate the mic and use it. Most cams don't even turn on the light as long as the video is not enabled. I would assume the webcam in Facebook is controlled through generic flash code which needs your permission to access the cam. But most Facebook users who actively use video chat, quite likely already have given their permissions.. so.. who is to know..

If in doubt, suspicious or paranoid, just unplug your webcam when not needed and problem solved - for a while

Originally posted by anon4m05
Alright, I have nothing to back this up, except my own account. Believe me or not, this is what happened.

The other day, I was speaking to my brother; basically, I was telling him how much I loved Kraft Dinner when you put a tad of Ketchup in it (some people think thats gross lol). We had no Ketchup or Kraft Dinner, so I was saying how we should go pick some up, and as it was before the "End of the World" date (Dec 21st), I jokingly added that we should "Stock up on it", as well as plent of Kraft Dinner.

So here comes the wierd part:

The next day, I logged into facebook, and BAM!

Right there in my news feed, is Kraft Dinner. Never before had it appeared, not even as an advertisement; 1 day after my conversation, there it was.

I am Goddam crazy? Or is Facebook Listening?

edit on 4-1-2013 by anon4m05 because: Accidently Pressed enter while writing the title (lol)

edit on 4-1-2013 by anon4m05 because: (no reason given)

Edit; This was a real life conversation, which took place in my kitchen at home, and was not conducted on the internet. I have never search for Kraft Dinner on the internet before that.

edit on 4-1-2013 by anon4m05 because: (no reason given)

If you have a built in microphone and camera, turn them off, the technology exists to listen and watch even when your computer is powered down.

reply to post by JuniorBeauchamp


I understand that, but there were no computers around. How does this make any sense?

Originally posted by Argyll
reply to post by SilentKoala

 

All the more reason to be as diligent as possible in preventing yourself from being tracked and advertised to. Solutions are widely available if one simply knows how to search.

Why?.....you are not being tracked for any nefarious reasons, in fact you are not being tracked at all unless you click on one of the ads, and then it is likely only a 24 hour cookie linked to an ad you have shown an interest in.....contextual advertising is a good thing!.....If you use the internet to browse your interests and hobbies, and in the course of that browsing you are presented with ads that relate to your browsing habits and are therefore relevant to your interests....how is that a bad thing?

Advertising on the internet is here to stay!.....surely it's not unreasonable to be presented with ads that are of interest to you instead of the irrelevant ads that were spammed to internet users several years ago?........Does anyone who watches TV have any control over the ads you see there?

There is an add-on for Firefox that removes LSO cookies upon closing out of Firefox. I like it a lot.

Originally posted by anon4m05
reply to post by JuniorBeauchamp

 

I understand that, but there were no computers around. How does this make any sense?

edit on 4-1-2013 by anon4m05 because: (no reason given)

In that case, I think everyone else who has said it is coincidental targeted advertising are right.

If you use the Firefox browser, there is a neat add-on that I use called, "Ad-Block" that works great to stop ads that normally would get through the pop-up blocker.

I would look into adding it.

I just don't know..... I've been eating Kraft Dinner for years. If it really was targeted advertising.....wouldn't I have encounterd this previous to this experience? I mean, it doesn't really add up to me.

I don't know; maybe, perhaps, it really was just a coincidence......

Originally posted by anon4m05
Alright, I have nothing to back this up, except my own account. Believe me or not, this is what happened.
I jokingly added that we should "Stock up on it", as well as plent of Kraft Dinner.
The next day, I logged into facebook, and BAM!
Right there in my news feed, is Kraft Dinner. Never before had it appeared, not even as an advertisement; 1 day after my conversation, there it was.
I am Goddam crazy? Or is Facebook Listening?....

THIS HAPPENED TO ME TOO!!!

None of the things were words / terms I searched, emailed about, or mentioned on the various social fora!!

They were however things that I verbally talked about within my home!!!

And bam! Like magic, ads started appearing about them online.

It was really f**king weird!

It's really made me think that the conspiracy-theories of how computers, mobiles, TVs, set-top boxes etc are listening/watching and recording our interactions and then being used for marketing purposes (at the very least!!!) might actually not be hogwash!!

I closed my fb account some months ago coz I got sick of it - so this is not an exclusive FB thing

I live in India, so it's obviously a worldwide thing (didn't notice where you live).

big brother is here dudes. this is not imagination.

I think we should test it further (controlled). Each of us picks something unique but doesn't google it, doesn't post it here, or do anything online relating to that thing - so it should be something that doesn't normally interest you.

Then talk about it aloud in various rooms which have electronic devices for a day or two.

See if ads come up relating to that during routine internet usage, and report back here.

Example: I don't have a cat nor am I a cat person, so I would loudly discuss cat food or toys for cats.

reply to post by rainychica


Really Glad someone has had a similar experience.....I don't feel so Crazy now!!

And yes, I thought about doing the controlled experiment thing......though presumably, since we're talking about it, they would already know about it lol. I suppose you'd have to be really subtle.

Originally posted by anon4m05
I just don't know..... I've been eating Kraft Dinner for years. If it really was targeted advertising.....wouldn't I have encounterd this previous to this experience? I mean, it doesn't really add up to me.

I don't know; maybe, perhaps, it really was just a coincidence......

edit on 4-1-2013 by anon4m05 because: (no reason given)

You may not have encountered a targeted ad for Kraft before that day, or you may have and didn't pay any attention to it.

Do you remove cookies every time you close out your computer?

If not, you may have a lot of tracking cookies that send data back that would alert the ad company to anything you may have said about mac and cheese or similar foods, that would prompt an ad.

reply to post by JuniorBeauchamp


Actually, yes I do. I would say with a frequency of about 9 times out of 10. I also have it set up now that it automatically deletes everything, history, cookies, etc, upon exit.

reply to post by MystikMushroom


There's no ketchup chips in the states? I guess it's like Apple coke in Mexico. I was surprised when I saw that.

Originally posted by anon4m05
reply to post by JuniorBeauchamp

 

Actually, yes I do. I would say with a frequency of about 9 times out of 10. I also have it set up now that it automatically deletes everything, history, cookies, etc, upon exit.

Ok. I doubt very seriously if Facebook has a bug in your house though.

The trackers programs look for buzzwords that alert them, and they do not have to be "Kraft Dinner" either, but words related to foods, etc.

I would tend to think it was a coincidence.

Do you ever notice how you can notice a particular type of car/color one day.

Then, you start seeing them all over?

It happens to all of us, but the fact is, those cars were there all the time, they just were not part of our frontal cognitive recognition until we pay particular attention to them. Then we see them all the time.

What happened may have been along those lines.

disable your mic and camera when not using. A small band-aid over the lens as well...

reply to post by anon4m05


There are LSO cookies that are not removed when automatically set up to delete cookies when you close out.

They are sneaky little things. If you use Firefox, you can get an add-on that will hunt them down and remove them when you close out. I use it and love it.

Originally posted by anon4m05
I understand the concept of targeted advertising, and indeed its benifits, aswell as its implications.

But I must clarify;

This was real life conversation, which took place in my kitchen. Spoken word.
There was no clicking. There was no searching.

The Ketchup thing was sort of a side point, the conversation itself was more about Kraft Dinner.

This is why I chose the word "listening"... not in figurative sense (i.e. monitoring text conversation and etc on the internet), but in the literal sense.

Oh well, in that case you are just losing it bud. No offence

Originally posted by anon4m05
reply to post by SilentKoala

 

Yes I've heard of this ability, as well as people being able to remotely turn on and operate web cameras (which is why I put my laptop in the closet whenever I'm finished using it lol).


In my kitchen though? There was no computer around!

edit on 4-1-2013 by anon4m05 because: (no reason given)

Ya but is there a cable or sattelite box nearby? They can also do this with phones.