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Facebook may not be recording audio, but they do pay attention to your cell phone, GPS, and wifi, so they know that you're at a particular fast food place. Then
by saulrh 9y ago
Facebook may not be recording audio, but they do pay attention to your cell phone, GPS, and wifi, so they know that you're at a particular fast food place. Then the brand-named shake is probably something they're trying to advertise, maybe even time-limited, so the fact that you're at that place is enough. Past that it's coincidence, the law of large numbers, and confirmation bias - you remember that instance and no others, and while a few people have their own anecdotes to share, HN's readership is large enough that FB could produce that population of anecdotes with a hit rate of "One time out of ten, advertise $restaurant and mention a single totally random item selected off their menu".
The "People you may know" anecdote below is, similarly, some combination of location, wifi sniffing, luck, and confirmation bias.