FACEBOOK and EAVESDROP

Why when we talk about something out loud it shows up on Facebook?

I have heard this question so many times now that I have decided to set down and see if there is a logical and scientific answer. An answer that makes sense to all of us!

Many of us think that Facebook is targeting ads by accessing our phone’s microphone. However, Facebook responded to this recently. Zuckerberg stated:

“We show ads based on people’s interests and other profile information- not what you are talking about out loud” (Mears, 2019).

How data is used to show ads?

According to Facebook Ads policies, data is used to show users ads without advertisers knowing who they are. The main process of Ads mechanism is done as explained following:

Users’ activity across Facebook companies and products: ads are displayed based on users’ activity across Facebook such as pages that users like profile information on Facebook and Instagram, and the places that users check-in using Facebook.

Users’ activity across other businesses: some of the personal information that users might share could be added to a customer list. Phone numbers or email addresses that are linked to specific business might indicate that some businesses match the users’ profile. Therefore, users are added to the customers list, and then Facebook matches the ad to the most relevant audience.

Website and apps: websites and apps used by the users send Facebook data directly though using Facebook business tools such as Pixel. This feature helps Facebook to show ads based on the products or services that users have looked at. As a user, you may download a certain app, view a certain web page, make a purchase, or add a specific item to your shopping cart. Hence, Facebook shows you ads related to the apps or websites you have visited or used. However, this is not only limited to the website pages or apps you have interacted with but also related to similar websites, apps, products, and services that Facebook may display their ads in your newsfeed.

Location: as one of the marketing tools, Facebook targets customers and audiences based on their locations. Hence, Facebook uses location data to show users ads from advertisers who are addressing specific places, areas and regions.

Why do users see a specific ad?

Based on the desires of advertisers and their targeted audiences, Facebook matches users who might be interested in those desires with the relevant ads. However, advertisers are not able whatsoever to know about the identity of users.

Advertisers set their plan as follow:

Choose a business goal: advertisers specify what are their goals; this is by setting goals such as selling a certain product, services, or increasing awareness of a certain brand.

Identify desired audience: advertisers inform Facebook of their desired and targeted audiences based on who they believe will be the most interested.

Ads creation: advertisers create their ads in order to show them on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, and then those ads are uploaded using Facebook ad management tools.

Show ads in users’ newsfeed: based on all the information set by the advertisers, Facebook shows ads that might be relevant to users.

Now that we understand how data is used to show ads. Is Facebook secretly listening to its users? According to an academic study at Northeastern University, Facebook is not secretly listening to users!

“They found no evidence of an app unexpectedly activating the microphone or sending audio out when not prompted to do so. Like good scientists, they refuse to say that their study definitively proves that your phone isn’t secretly listening to you, but they didn’t find a single instance of it happening” (Hill, 2018).

The study carried by Northeastern University addressed over 8,000 apps that share data with Facebook besides apps belong to Facebook. Those apps appeared clean. Although, Bloomberg reported that audio chats in Facebook messenger were accessible to numerous contractors as they were reportedly paid to copy them. Yet, those conversations happened over messenger not negatively recorded in the privacy of users’ home. In addition, users opted in for messages to be transcribed (Frier, 2019).

On the assumption that this latest admission from Facebook is familiar, this is due that it’s the fifth tech company discovered to be using human ears when users might not expect this. According to Bloomberg, Amazon Alexa reportedly used human beings to access audio files to verify if the technology is accurately construing voice commands (Matt Day, 2019). Additionally, MIT Technology Review reported a contractor for Google Assistant reportedly seeped thousands of audio files to a Belgian public broadcaster.

“The clips include fragments of deeply personal conversations, including people’s addresses, information on someone’s love life, and what sounded like a woman in distress. Many of the recordings were captured accidentally, because the speaker had incorrectly identified the ‘wake word.’” (Jee, 2018).

In July, the Guardian was informed that Siri audio clips are being accessible to contractors used by Apple. Afterward, Vice reported that Microsoft listens to Skype conversations that use translators, a marvelous feature that provides a real-time translation during skype calls.

That being said, all contractors in the five cases are being used for quality control; in other words, human being flags whether the artificial intelligence succeeds or fails in driving a voice to text or automatic translation. Nonetheless, this is perhaps considered an invasion of privacy in many events.

“Regularly, confidential medical information, recordings of couples having sex, and drug deals are being heard by Apple contractors” (The Guardian, 2019).

Due to that voice assistant such as Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa might be activated erroneously, users are being recorded without their knowledge. Yet, it doesn’t signify eavesdropping. On the other hand, I hardly think that users reasonably anticipate recordings of their quite private activities to be shared with other people who are paid off to listen.

This perhaps wouldn’t be terrible if the companies explicitly clarified whether those audio files will be used, and if so, for what purpose. Hence, users will have no room for doubts or confusion. Moreover, the punch would have been less powerful if the feature of artificial intelligence hasn’t been sold to people who were not in a position to know better.

Voice recognition is still in its early stage of development. Many leaps and inferences are made by the human brain through the signals received through the ears-assumptions and fill-ins that we are still trying to find out how to deal with machines. Data takes the form of the personal audio files as the artificial intelligence needs to be fed by data. However, it is not sufficient to only dump the audio files into a machine, it is significant to pay human contractors to recognize what machines cannot. Being explicit about humans who are operating behind the scene of artificial intelligence could mean less creativeness and less innovation. Yet, users should be informed in order to make decisions about what devices to allow in their homes and on their persons.

In conclusion, what was found in several sources makes sense. Yet, if Facebook was accessing our phone’s microphone, I believe this will not be explicitly published.

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