Triggered by certain phrases, the Facebook app uses the smartphone microphone to listen to conversations, then serves ads based on what it hears, Dr. Peter Henway claims.
“You’re talking about this conspiracy theory that gets passed around, that we listen to what’s going on on your microphone and we use that for ads. We don’t do that,” Mark Zuckeberg said after Senator Gary Peters asked whether Facebook listens to its users, according to the Independent.
Yet, seemingly everyone – Senator Gary Peters and his staff included – has a story that echoes the sentiment expressed in what Mark Zuckeberg dismissed as conspiracy theories; a story about discussing a certain trip, idea, TV show, clothing item, and having an ad pop up on Facebook’s feed the next day, or within a few hours.