User-generated, targeted advertising has been a thing for a while now. Never-ending ‘T’s & C’s’ that prove too long to read, ending up in what truthfully is an ignorant ‘Accept.’

But there’s something new on the digital cards, although perhaps only new to those on the front-end of mobile and laptop apps that guide our virtual social lives.

People have been reporting adverts on their Facebook after nothing but face-to-face conversations or phone calls. No typing, searching or web browsing, nada!

This leaves us to assume one thing, right? That Facebook is using our microphones to listen to our conversations, in turn feeding us with relevant and ‘wanted’ advertising.

Well, if Damian Le Nouaille is claiming it, then we’re listening.

He sold his first website at the tender age of 16 and has been doing anything and everything web since. He says that Instagram, now owned by Facebook, listens to him in multiple languages before showing him ads in English after slipping up product names in French and Spanish, reports the Telegraph.

Scary stuff.

Facebook, however, continues to deny the eavesdropping accusations, after last year’s viral debate saying:

“Some recent articles have suggested that we must be listening to people’s conversations in order to show them relevant ads. This is not true. We show ads based on people’s interests and other profile information – not what you’re talking out loud about.”

Rob Goldman, the company’s ‘runner’ of advertising technology even took it upon himself to reach out with a Tweet:

So why does Facebook have access to your microphone if you’ve never spoken to it before?

The main reason for the functionality is so that we can record videos for Facebook Live or Instagram Stories, but recent research suggests that when iPhone apps are open, they can turn on the microphone at anytime without informing you or asking for permission.

Is it really as creepy as it sounds, though? Well:

“The most likely explanation is it simply doesn’t: it’s a coincidence, or your imagination. A normal internet user sees hundreds, if not thousands, of adverts every day, and a lot of those will be on Instagram or Facebook: the average user spends almost an hour on Facebook-owned apps a day.

“You probably ignore most of those adverts, particularly the ones that are irrelevant. But every now and then one might come out of the blue that you happen to have had a recent conversation about. Because it seems a little too accurate, and that conversation is front of mind, it’s that particular advert you twig, while ignoring the thousands that are not about recent conversations.”

It’s called “Baader-Meinhof phenomenon” and has existed long before the days of Facebook:

“If you’ve ever noticed that you learn a new word or cultural reference, only to then see it used constantly, it’s the same feeling. It’s a form of cognitive bias – our tendency to assign more importance to things than they deserve.”

Enough complaining, here’s the solution:

iOS: Settings > Privacy > Microphone > Deselect Facebook

Android: Settings > Personal > Privacy and Safety > App Permissions > Microphone and unselect Facebook

So what is being advertised on your social media? Maybe it can tell you a little bit more about yourself.

Who thought that Mark’s primary goal was self-reflection. Pfffft.

[source:telegraph]