Facebook denies listening in on users' phone calls to target ads
Facebook has been forced to deny allegations that it has been eavesdropping on users' phone calls to target ads.
Writing in a blog post, Facebook said: "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."
Accusations that the social network allows marketers to serve ads based on microphone data emerged last month, when Kelli Burns, a professor at the University of South Florida gave an interview to US-based News Channel 8.
During the talk Burns turned on her microphone and discussed going on an African safari via a jeep. When she opened up Facebook the first post that appeared on her news feed was a feature shared by a friend about a safari.
Burns has since said that she never made the claim she believed Facebook was listening into her conversation, and that the small experiment had been "blown out of proportion".
"The fact that this story has gone global says a lot about people's concerns about privacy," she told the BBC."I am not a scientist or a privacy expert - but I never said in that story that I believe Facebook can hear you."
Despite Burns' comments, the interview thrust Facebook's data practices under the spotlight.
"We only access your microphone if you have given our app permission and if you are actively using a specific feature that requires audio. This might include recording a video or using an optional feature we introduced two years ago to include music or other audio in your status updates," confirmed the social network.