Do Social Media Apps Listen To Our Conversations Through Our Phone's Microphones?

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In the past couple of years, I have noticed countless times that the products I mention in my conversations with the people around me (in the real world) somehow show up on my social media feed on Facebook or Instagram.

Now, I am not some conspiracy theorist. For the first few times, I thought it might have been a coincidence. After all, these social media platforms are increasingly showing advertisements and are increasingly getting good at showing ads that are most relevant to you.

But then, it kept on happening. The weird part was that I didn't actually search anything about those products on the internet. It was just in conversations that the products or services were mentioned.

So, how come they ended up on my social media feed? Do social media apps like Facebook and Instagram listen to our conversations through the microphones of our smartphones?

The Creepiest Thing

Privacy is a huge deal. I know, in the digital age, privacy has become more of a meme than anything but the concept is still very valuable. The idea that someone or something is listening at all times is really creepy.

Especially if it is to use our conversations to serve advertisements to us. Now, it is important to mention that Facebook and the others have denied that they engage in this activity.

But, how many times have they been caught being lax about their user's data? How many times have they gotten in trouble for putting user privacy at risk? Too many times to count.

So, what if they were really doing this? Currently, I don't know of any solution that could stop this. And personally, I think this is happening. One or twice may have been a coincidence but this has happened more times than I can remember!

What do you think about all this? Do you know of any remedy for this?



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11 comments
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Yes with all the advancement of technologies they are few cons. We have to deal with them in best way. This is only possible by brain storming and sharing ideas.

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I think we should just uninstall these social media apps lol

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Test it. Intentionally discuss something completely outside your shopping habits and interests. Repeat. Document everything. See what happens.

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I have tested it a few times. Once or twice, it showed me the product on the feed but the rest of the times, it didn't. I can't seem to figure out the pattern.

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I thought I was the only one. At first I thought it was just a coincidence or I had probably searched for it online before and forgotten. Like you said it didn't happen as I would have hoped again so I couldn't say if it was a pattern or deliberate. Curious as to what the explanation might be though.

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Yeah, exactly! Most people tend to think that it is just a coincidence. But if this is happening to almost everyone, it only means one thing. They are indeed listening.

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