Facebook has denied in an official blog post that it is eavesdropping on people’s conversations to deliver targeted ads and to alter their News Feeds.

According to its spokesperson, Facebook only uses its access to people’s microphones for certain features. This announcement was made in response to recent rumors saying that the social network can and is listening through people’s smartphone mics to better target advertising based on what they are talking about.

But Facebook clearly stated that the device’s microphone is only used by the social network for features that require it and that the ads people see on Facebook are based only on their use on the platform.

Even though the suggestion that Facebook’s ears might be always open had been thrown around in anecdotal reports for years, the possibility was boosted last week. But the site swiftly denied those rumors.

“Facebook does not use your phone’s microphone to inform ads or to change what you see in News Feed,” the company wrote in a blog post on 2 June.

“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.”

Facebook also pointed out that, as with any other app, it asks for access to your phone’s mic so it can use it for specific features. “We only access your microphone if you have given our app permission and if you are actively using a specific feature that requires audio,” the site explained.

What features, you’re asking? Recording a video requires the mic, for instance, as well as including music or other audio in the status updates.

But if you’re still not convinced and you don’t want Facebook snooping around, you can easily turn off your microphone for Facebook – or any other app, for that matter.

Some features will become unusable, but it will mean that Facebook will no longer ‘hear’ anything since you’ve turned off microphone access at the level of the operating system.

To deny Facebook’s access, all you have to do is head to the privacy settings on iOS or Android and toggle the permissions that the app is given.
Image Source: Yahoo!