If you are one of the 1.65 billion active monthly users on Facebook you will now be served ads, based on your information, preferences, interests and browsing history, not only on, but also off Facebook. Two years ago, the company launched its Audience Network, which allows brands to serve up Facebook ads off of the social media platform.
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Facebook is responding directly to claims made by Kelli Burns, a professor of mass communications at University of South Florida. Soon, Facebook has shown her items/services related to her conversations.
Facebook has been pretty open about its plans to bring users adverts based of their tastes.
Despite such findings, Dr. Burns told the Independent that she’s not confident that the social networking site is indeed eavesdropping on her. She said that the company may be mining data through her web searches to give her targeted ads. Of course, people who have actually witnessed ads based on recent discussions they’ve had remain totally unconvinced. Or if they’re co-opting the microphone feature in your phone to listen to what you’re talking about and then push similarly-themed ads on you.
These days people are more concerned about their privacy, as they should rightfully be, which is why it is understandable that there was recently a huge cause for concern when there were allegations that Facebook was using your smartphone’s microphone to listen in on you, allegations that Facebook has since denied. In this way, they can present TV shows or movies that the users are watching.
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To do so, access your device’s Settings Apps Facebook App Permissions and toggle off Facebook’s access to your microphone. Just last month, chief economic researcher at Uber, Keith Chen, discussed the information Uber gathers on its users. This device is said to be “always listening” so it can play music for the users or look up direction for its users. It’s done on an iPhone by heading to the app’s settings, clicking through to privacy and switching the slider for microphone; on Android phones, head to settings and then privacy, and change the permissions that the Facebook app is given.
