4 ms·

It embarrasses me to see such conspiratorial nonsense on this website. There are many reasons why such things happen: coincidence, someone google the topic fro

It embarrasses me to see such conspiratorial nonsense on this website. There are many reasons why such things happen: coincidence, someone google the topic from the same router IP address, ad tracking on Googled websites, etc etc The idea that one of the worlds largest companies would risk their entire business by secretly recording their users for ad revenue is absurd on almost every level. Yet some people on HackerNew, a forum that self-selects to a highly educated/intelligent part of the community actually believes it. It's mind-boggling.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
flukus 9y ago
> The idea that one of the worlds largest companies would risk their entire business by secretly recording their users for ad revenue is absurd on almost every level. I'm with you on the skepticism, but they are one of the largest companies in the world because of ad revenue. It's not putting their business at risk, it is their business.
fratlas 9y ago
Not wearing my tin foil hat, just reporting what I found when I tried to test it myself. Only our computers on the router, had never googled the topics.
- seanp2k2 9y ago
  See my updated post just above. I just tried it with my Nexus 7 and saw nothing around mic uploads. Install Fiddler and MITM your Facebook app and repeat your experiment. I'm very curious to see if you find something different from what I found.
colordrops 9y ago
It embarrasses me to see such horrible logic and head-in-the-sand thinking on this website. Whether they record ambient audio or not, how is it implausible or out of character with everything else they do? Facebook and many other companies collect countless dimensions of data on users to profile them for marketing. Audio is just one more. It's not even really that disturbing or far fetched. Why would they ignore such a lucrative data source when they've already tapped so many others? It's a direct business plan with Amazon's echo for christ sake. What is so hard to comprehend about this?
_jal 9y ago
> The idea that one of the worlds largest companies would risk their entire business by secretly recording their users for ad revenue is absurd on almost every level. Right[1]. Nobody makes risky[2], ethically challenged[3] decisions[4] in business[5]. Ever[6]. Doesn't happen[7]. [1] https://www.recode.net/2017/5/11/15628924/alphabet-waymo-lawsuit-against-uber-will-go-to-trial https://www.recode.net/2017/5/11/15628924/alphabet-waymo-law... [2] https://www.yahoo.com/news/hampton-creek-serves-another-vegan-mayo-scandal-101745742.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/hampton-creek-serves-another-vega... [3] http://fortune.com/2016/07/08/rise-fall-elizabeth-holmes-theranos/ http://fortune.com/2016/07/08/rise-fall-elizabeth-holmes-the... [4] https://www.inc.com/business-insider/inside-lending-club-scandal.html https://www.inc.com/business-insider/inside-lending-club-sca... [5] http://fortune.com/2016/08/14/fraud-allegations-hud-skully/ http://fortune.com/2016/08/14/fraud-allegations-hud-skully/ [6] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/technology/a-silicon-valley-dream-collapses-in-allegations-of-fraud.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/technology/a-silicon-vall... [7] http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-us-attorney-could-look-at-rothenberg-ventures-source-says-2016-9 http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-us-attorney-could-look-at...

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

flukus 9y ago

> The idea that one of the worlds largest companies would risk their entire business by secretly recording their users for ad revenue is absurd on almost every level. I'm with you on the skepticism, but they are one of the largest companies in the world because of ad revenue. It's not putting their business at risk, it is their business.

fratlas 9y ago

Not wearing my tin foil hat, just reporting what I found when I tried to test it myself. Only our computers on the router, had never googled the topics.

seanp2k2 9y ago
See my updated post just above. I just tried it with my Nexus 7 and saw nothing around mic uploads. Install Fiddler and MITM your Facebook app and repeat your experiment. I'm very curious to see if you find something different from what I found.

colordrops 9y ago

It embarrasses me to see such horrible logic and head-in-the-sand thinking on this website. Whether they record ambient audio or not, how is it implausible or out of character with everything else they do? Facebook and many other companies collect countless dimensions of data on users to profile them for marketing. Audio is just one more. It's not even really that disturbing or far fetched. Why would they ignore such a lucrative data source when they've already tapped so many others? It's a direct business plan with Amazon's echo for christ sake. What is so hard to comprehend about this?

_jal 9y ago

> The idea that one of the worlds largest companies would risk their entire business by secretly recording their users for ad revenue is absurd on almost every level. Right[1]. Nobody makes risky[2], ethically challenged[3] decisions[4] in business[5]. Ever[6]. Doesn't happen[7]. [1] https://www.recode.net/2017/5/11/15628924/alphabet-waymo-lawsuit-against-uber-will-go-to-trial https://www.recode.net/2017/5/11/15628924/alphabet-waymo-law... [2] https://www.yahoo.com/news/hampton-creek-serves-another-vegan-mayo-scandal-101745742.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/hampton-creek-serves-another-vega... [3] http://fortune.com/2016/07/08/rise-fall-elizabeth-holmes-theranos/ http://fortune.com/2016/07/08/rise-fall-elizabeth-holmes-the... [4] https://www.inc.com/business-insider/inside-lending-club-scandal.html https://www.inc.com/business-insider/inside-lending-club-sca... [5] http://fortune.com/2016/08/14/fraud-allegations-hud-skully/ http://fortune.com/2016/08/14/fraud-allegations-hud-skully/ [6] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/technology/a-silicon-valley-dream-collapses-in-allegations-of-fraud.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/technology/a-silicon-vall... [7] http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-us-attorney-could-look-at-rothenberg-ventures-source-says-2016-9 http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-us-attorney-could-look-at...