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Comment by jlgaddis | Hacker News Reader

I was once sitting at a bar having a beer, chatting with the bartender (one of my best friends) and the guy sitting next to me, whom I had never met before. I pulled out my phone to show my friend something that had been posted on Facebook and, while browsing Facebook right after that, the app showed the guy sitting right next to me as the first person under "People You May Know". I had not "checked in" or posted any updates while I was there, FWIW. It was at that point that I removed all permissions (i.e. location tracking) that I could from the Facebook app.

More on-topic: I recall reading that the Facebook app would activate the microphone when one was posting a status update, apparently listening for things like a movie playing in the background and such.

ETA: Related Snopes articles:

https://www.snopes.com/computer/facebook/facebooklisten.asp

https://www.snopes.com/2016/06/04/professor-claims-facebook-...

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After Obama’s comments on the NSA surveillance program back when sh*t was hitting the fan, I’m always keenly parsing these kinds of statements for word play. There’s usually a way out of accountability and liability through evasive rhetoric.

I agree. Really, I don't see why Facebook wouldn't monitor audio like this for targeting ads. If you make money from serving ads, that seems like exactly the kind of thing you would want to do.

Like you, I have gotten pretty good at noticing "weasel words" and such in the government's statements (denials). It is clear that they take their time to make sure they word their statements ever so carefully.

> Really, I don't see why Facebook wouldn't monitor audio like this for targeting ads.

Horrible battery life?

From another comment [0] in this thread:

> Remember the time they kept the app open in the background on iOS devices by sending an empty audio buffer to the phone for playback?

> People started discovering that after iOS introduced the battery/power usage section in the Settings app.

They couldn't do it 24/7, of course, but they could certainly take "samples" at regular intervals or in certain locations or something. From my own experience, it doesn't seem that Facebook has ever been worried about battery life or preserving it.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15580748

What would be the purpose of taking "samples"? How is this possibly supposed to work?

Anecdotally, Facebook battery performance is pretty poor, it's always the app that drains my battery the fastest. I don't think they care about power consumption.

There's a very significant difference between "Facebook's battery impact is pretty shitty because the app is clunky" and "this would mean the average smartphone standby time would be two hours because it would require a phenomenal amount of power."

>Really, I don't see why Facebook wouldn't monitor audio like this for targeting ads.

Because they'd get hit by huge lawsuits and fines from governments all over the world. Europe is especially hungry to fine US companies for privacy issues.

Also it would be terrible for their reputation. Hordes of people would uninstall the app, and even delete their accounts. I would for sure.

It's becoming harder to avoid their apps now that people I need to stay in touch with are on the inevitable Whatsapp that needs voice+other permissions, plus whatever other apps they bring into our lives next. I think it's kinda hopeless.

If you both had connections to the same free WiFi, and thus the same IP, it's virtually guaranteed you're at the same location. No GPS required.

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