4 ms·

I went for a coffee with an old friend. He briefly mentioned he got a new puppy in our conversation. Note, i don't own a dog. I didn't google or search anywher

I went for a coffee with an old friend. He briefly mentioned he got a new puppy in our conversation. Note, i don't own a dog. I didn't google or search anywhere about dogs or made any related purchases. After i went home i opened facebook... low and behold, i see dog toys ads. This has happened a few times that it became plain creepy. That was around 2014, i have since uninstalled facebook and barely open the website.

shawnz 5y ago
How often do you open Facebook and see ads about irrelevant trash? Probably most of the time, right? So why is it so surprising that occasionally that irrelevant trash might align with something that happened in your day? Another thing to consider: How many times do you hang out with a friend and not notice any particular connection in the ads you see later? Again I'm guessing that's the case most of the time. If they really had such sophisticated matching technology then why not do it all the time?
planet-and-halo 5y ago
That's geolocation. They knew your friend got a dog, they knew you were in the same location, now they assume you might be interested in dogs too. I still think it's super creepy and invasive, but I think most likely they aren't listening to microphones.
- criddell 5y ago
  > I think most likely they aren't listening to microphones Do you think that's a line that even Facebook wouldn't cross?
  - planet-and-halo 5y ago
    Morally? No. But I think they'd fear the legal repercussions of high-level company officers making public statements that they aren't doing it. I also think one of the many privacy researchers doing traffic sniffing probably would have picked up on some signature pattern. Is it possible I'm wrong? Of course. But if I had to make a bet at this moment in time, that's how I'd bet.
    - arthur_sav 5y ago
      I have a suspicion on how they're doing it. Every time this has happened there was a tv around. 1. Use smart TVs to listen for ad relevant keywords. 2. TV manufacturers sell the data to FB. 3. FB gets keywords & geolocation data, combines it with it's won data and voila. You know these 2 FB users where near this place and dog stuff was discussed. Pretty safe and distanced from a scandal and yet very effective.
  - nicbou 5y ago
    Is it computationally reasonable? I feel like there are much cheaper methods for Facebook to do exactly this without listening to you.
    - criddell 5y ago
      That's the best argument against eavesdropping that I've heard.
- TchoBeer 5y ago
  or, OR!, more likely he was connected to his friend's wifi and it uses IP to group people.
- tzs 5y ago
  Or Facebook already knew that he was friends with the person who got the new dog, knew that person had a new dog, and started showing dog-related ads to all of the people on Facebook that they knew were friends with the new dog owner.

shawnz 5y ago

How often do you open Facebook and see ads about irrelevant trash? Probably most of the time, right? So why is it so surprising that occasionally that irrelevant trash might align with something that happened in your day? Another thing to consider: How many times do you hang out with a friend and not notice any particular connection in the ads you see later? Again I'm guessing that's the case most of the time. If they really had such sophisticated matching technology then why not do it all the time?

planet-and-halo 5y ago

That's geolocation. They knew your friend got a dog, they knew you were in the same location, now they assume you might be interested in dogs too. I still think it's super creepy and invasive, but I think most likely they aren't listening to microphones.

criddell 5y ago
> I think most likely they aren't listening to microphones Do you think that's a line that even Facebook wouldn't cross?
- planet-and-halo 5y ago
  Morally? No. But I think they'd fear the legal repercussions of high-level company officers making public statements that they aren't doing it. I also think one of the many privacy researchers doing traffic sniffing probably would have picked up on some signature pattern. Is it possible I'm wrong? Of course. But if I had to make a bet at this moment in time, that's how I'd bet.
  - arthur_sav 5y ago
    I have a suspicion on how they're doing it. Every time this has happened there was a tv around. 1. Use smart TVs to listen for ad relevant keywords. 2. TV manufacturers sell the data to FB. 3. FB gets keywords & geolocation data, combines it with it's won data and voila. You know these 2 FB users where near this place and dog stuff was discussed. Pretty safe and distanced from a scandal and yet very effective.
- nicbou 5y ago
  Is it computationally reasonable? I feel like there are much cheaper methods for Facebook to do exactly this without listening to you.
  - criddell 5y ago
    That's the best argument against eavesdropping that I've heard.
TchoBeer 5y ago
or, OR!, more likely he was connected to his friend's wifi and it uses IP to group people.
tzs 5y ago
Or Facebook already knew that he was friends with the person who got the new dog, knew that person had a new dog, and started showing dog-related ads to all of the people on Facebook that they knew were friends with the new dog owner.