Itโs irresistible, enticing and addicting.ย And, as News10.com reports, itโs available 24-hours a day all over the world to billions of people. Facebook beckons to users seemingly with a two-prong approach โ both the pressure and pleasure to post. We share stories, photos, triumphs and tragedies. It is ingrained into our daily lives so deeply that studies show people check Facebook, on average, 14 times a day.ย With all those eyes all over the globe dialed in and the purchasing power available, the online giant has tapped into a controversial delivery of data into its intelligence gathering.ย It all starts with something that you may not even realize is enabled on your phone.
A little-known feature deeply embedded in Facebook’s privacy settings is causing users to think twice aboutnot just what they write but what they say. ย As TheAntiMedia.org’s Clarice Palmer explains…
The debate over Internet privacy and the responsibility social media companies should carry in protecting user privacy never ceases to spark controversy โ among both users and tech insiders. But while Facebook, one of the most popular social media networks, struggles with accusations of news suppression and even fraud, a new report on the networkโs microphone settings is reigniting past fears of surveillance that were never fully addressed.According to University of South Florida Professor Kelli Burns, Facebook is a huge part of the lives of smartphone users. Due to this widespread addiction, Burns explains, โAnytime youโre using your phone, any kind of information that youโre putting into your phone, looking at on your phone, Facebook can access that.โ But details regarding what youโre doing or what youโre browsing while on Facebook are not the only type of data the Silicon Valley giant can access. The social mediaโs microphone feature, which can be enabled by the user via Facebookโs settings, is also listening.
A few months back, a Facebook user took their concerns over the microphone settings to Reddit.The post quickly went viral, prompting Facebook to issue a statement on the matter. According to the social media network, the company does not โrecord your conversations.โ Instead, the statement claimed, if the user chooses to turn the microphone feature on, Facebook will โuse your microphone toย identify the things youโre listening to or watching based on the music and TV matches weโre able to identify. If this feature is turned on, itโs only active when youโre writing a status update.โ
But According to ABCโs WFLA, Burns might have been able to prove Facebook isnโt telling the whole story behind this technology.
From the publication:
โWe tested the theory with Kelli, and even we were surprised by what we found and saw.
โKelli enabled the microphone feature and talked about her desire to go on safari, right down to her mode of transportation. โIโm really interested in going on an African safari. I think itโd be wonderful to ride in one of those jeeps,โ she said aloud, phone in hand.
โLess than 60 seconds later, the first post on her Facebook feed was a safari story that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Turns out, it was a story that had been posted three hours earlier. And, after mentioning a jeep, a car ad also appeared on her page.โ
This test, the news organization contended, demonstrates how Facebook picks up โbuzz wordsโ in order to show that particular user ads and posts matching their interests. The fact the professor made those comments after turning the feature on may serve as an example of how easily Facebook can trick users into giving the company access to their private conversations.
Though Facebook claims it does not store or share user information, the very existence of the technology may give hackers, including government-backed security experts, a reason to explore private data further, putting the privacy โ and even safety โ of Facebook users in danger. Whatโs more concerning about this issue is the companyโs previous association with the U.S. National Security Agencyโs PRISM program, which gave federal agents access to usersโ private data, including, emails, photos, and instant messages, among other things. While Facebookโs more recent claims concerning user privacy regarding the microphone feature might be legitimate, the companyโs former cooperation with NSA officials could indicate the feds may seek to explore the microphone feature โ whether Facebook agrees with them or not.
Smart TV manufacturers like Samsung have recently been forced to publicly address privacy concerns after news broke the technology was listening to usersโ conversations. As the same users learn Android Smart TVs may also present vulnerabilities that give hackers the ability to record what they do, other members of the tech industry, like Facebook, might also face growing obstacles and skepticism from users.
In contrast, though Apple has aligned with the federal government in at least one case, the company was widely praised for standing for privacy rights in a legal standoff involving the FBI over the San Bernardino shooterโs iPhone. But unlike Apple, whose hesitation regarding lobbying practices has earnedย negative attention from Congress in the past, Facebook has a relatively cozy relationship with Washington. Whether this relationship is mutually beneficial to both parties โ and whether Facebook will respond like Apple has โ remains to be seen.
But Market-Ticker’s Karl Denninger rages further – demanding an answer to “how is this legal?”
…the articleย Facebookย appears toย confirmย that it does indeed use your microphone — which meansย it listens to and uploads the contents of speech and other soundย around youย when you are using the app.Explain to me, if you would, why you’dย ever allow such a device in your pocket? ย Further, please explain to me exactly why youย believeย Facebook would only use this for “ad targeting”…..ย when there is literally nothing to prevent them from doing otherwise.
And finally,ย please explain why this is legal and Facebook and its officers are notย underย criminal indictment,ย particularly when you consider thatย people other than youย may well speak within the listening range of your microphone, and whileย you may have given consentย they did notย and further, they had no idea they were being recorded!
So you want to have a conversation with me, eh? ย Well I don’t consent to being recorded, and in many statesย (including Florida) unless said recorder is either openly and notoriously present and thus obvious (giving me the clear option to refuse to talk to you in its presence)ย or you have my consentย it’s a felony to make that recording in any situation where Iย reasonably believe I’m not being taped or overheard.
Oh by the way, theย use to which you put the recordingย is immaterial; it isย not legal in this state to do so for “purely” advertising purposes;ย any such use is unlawful and in fact it is a felony in this state.
Heh Zuckerpig — your ass ought to be indicted for this crap, and Florida is not alone in criminalizing this activity.
*ย *ย *
And finally, here is a media design professor exposing how his Facebook provacy settings were opted back in without notice or consent…
Check your Facebook Ads privacy settings. They opted you back in without notice or consent. https://t.co/7gJx8UcXZc pic.twitter.com/McffGfTRQo
โ David Carroll (@profcarroll) May 29, 2016
This article appeared at ZeroHedge.com at: ย http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-31/forget-big-brother-facebook-watching-and-listening-everything-you-do