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Comment by colordrops | Hacker News Reader

There isn't strong evidence either way that Facebook is or isn't listening in on the mic. Considering they spy on everything else, and they've exhibited plenty of sociopathic behavior, it's reasonable to assume they listen to audio surreptitiously until proven otherwise.

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> There isn't strong evidence either way that Facebook is or isn't listening in on the mic.

Is there _any_ evidence that Facebook is spying using the mic? Surely we have to start there, right?

Once again my point is we don't know, and based on past behavior it would be prudent for you to assume they do if for whatever reason you don't want to be listened to. I was responding to the unsupported assertion that Facebook is not listening to you.

If you only use direct evidence to come to conclusions and toss out theories and deductive and inductive reasoning you won't be able to function in this world.

But there's lots of things we don't know. Just because I think Facebook is creepy and advertising-crazy, doesn't mean I can just make up claims. You have to come to the table with at least a little bit more than just not liking FB and superstition.

If someone beats you up every time you interact with them, it would fair to fear for your safety before you knew for sure that they would attack you the next time you saw them. It's not just "not liking" your attacker.

Correct. It’s fair to be weary of them in general.

But it wouldn’t be fair to say that they rape girls in the alley, or throw up your hands and say “look, we don’t have much proof either way!”. It’s a completely baseless accusation that makes it harder to talk about real problems.

I'm glad you're not a judge

This is the same sort of flawed logic as people who won't take a breath without a peer reviewed study saying air is safe. Personal decisions are not the same as the legal system.

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