Facebook admits to being able to spy on your private conversations using your smartphone's microphone. The social network of Mark Zuckerberg has indeed deposited the patent of a technology that can activate the microphone of our phones without our knowledge. For the time being, Facebook is ensuring that this patent has never been used yet.
On June 14, 2018, a disturbing patent filed by Facebook made its appearance on the net. As the British Metro media reports, the patent describes a technology capable of remotely activating the micro-smartphones of social network users. This technology allows the microphone to hear imperceptible sounds, "signals" explains the patent, by the human Ear, broadcast through advertisements (on your TV, your tablet, your smartphone...).
Facebook: The social network is well able to spy on you via the microphone of your smartphone
Once your smartphone's microphone is able to capture these inaudible sounds, it will automatically switch to "recording" mode to capture your reactions (or "ambient noise" describes the patent). Did you enjoy the publicity? Did you sigh when it was broadcast? Did you comment on it with your entourage?
The collected audio file would then be forwarded to the company's servers for analysis by experts. This technology could allow Facebook to collect valuable information for advertisers and optimize targeted advertisements that will appear on your news feed.
Contacted by our colleagues at Mashable, Facebook promised that "the technology contained in this patent has not been included in any of our products and will never be." It's a common practice to file patents to protect themselves from other businesses, "said Allen Lo, vice president of Facebook.
This is far from the first time that Facebook has been accused of spying on us via our smartphones. At his hearing before the US Senate, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of the Social network, was again forced to sweep these accusations. "What you're talking about is a conspiracy theory to say that we listen through microphones and audio files for advertising targeting. We don't do that, "he assured.
If you are concerned about the discovery of this patent, it is still possible to prevent Facebook from accessing the microphone on your smartphone. Here's how to do it:
- Go to your Smartphone settings
- Go to Applications
- Select Facebook.
- Choose Permissions
- Disable access to the microphone in the list