Facebook Friend Suggestions

Megwepz

Not sure if this is the right place for this so feel free to move.

I don't use social media for personal reasons at all, never have, can't stand it. Started a new job last year that required me to set up a personal FB account for use in managing a company account. My personal profile contains no more than a name, no posts, friends etc. I have the FB app on my work phone.

I have had a number of these weird instances of getting FB notifications with friend suggestions but this morning was by far the strangest and most worrying. I was on a tea break at work and had a discussion about a particular man that I knew. I don't have this man's number saved in either my work or personal phone. I have never looked him up online. Ten minutes after the conversation had finished I received a friend suggestion notification from FB for him..... how does happen? I'm a bit unnerved by it to be honest.

is_that_so

Probably linked to you by what you look at on FB, through your FB friends and their friends, by what the company does, by what employees in the company do and by the friends they have. Someone may also have received your name as a suggestion and then you've all their friends tagged on. FB have all the angles covered but don't sweat it, just reject them.

TheShow

your phone heard your conversation.

punisher5112

Phone was listening or Alexa or Google....

Megwepz

See.... thing is, I don't have any friends on FB, I don't search for people or anything else on FB. There is literally no activity or info on my own page other than my name.

The company is small and only has 3 employees, me being one of them. None of us have the fact that we work for the company on our personal profiles. The company has c. 5k followers on it's page. Most of my posting on behalf of the company is via another app, Hootsuite, and not directly via FB app, desktop or mobile.

I'm just kinda stumped as to how this happened.

Megwepz

punisher5112 wrote: »

Phone was listening or Alexa or Google....

Honestly, without sounding like one of the tin foil hat brigade, I can't come up with any other valid reason than my conversation being monitored....

Please god someone tell me there is another reasonable explanation????

punisher5112

Megwepz wrote: »

See.... thing is, I don't have any friends on FB, I don't search for people or anything else on FB. There is literally no activity or info on my own page other than my name.

The company is small and only has 3 employees, me being one of them. None of us have the fact that we work for the company on our personal profiles. The company has c. 5k followers on it's page. Most of my posting on behalf of the company is via another app, Hootsuite, and not directly via FB app, desktop or mobile.

I'm just kinda stumped as to how this happened.

I find Facebook on my old phone was logging itself in.... I deleted password and never linked but it would still be open....

I don't trust it to be honest.... Absolutely hate these social media crappy sites.

is_that_so

Megwepz wrote: »

See.... thing is, I don't have any friends on FB, I don't search for people or anything else on FB. There is literally no activity or info on my own page other than my name.

The company is small and only has 3 employees, me being one of them. None of us have the fact that we work for the company on our personal profiles. The company has c. 5k followers on it's page. Most of my posting on behalf of the company is via another app, Hootsuite, and not directly via FB app, desktop or mobile.

I'm just kinda stumped as to how this happened.

Then someone searched for either you or the company or it's the tinfoil explanation!

punisher5112

Megwepz wrote: »

Honestly, without sounding like one of the tin foil hat brigade, I can't come up with any other valid reason than my conversation being monitored....

Please god someone tell me there is another reasonable explanation????

I've had similar with ad pop ups ...

Talking to the wife one day about something let's say a phonebox.... Then phonebox ads start popping up.

TheShow

It could be that said person was checking your profile on FB then you would get a friend suggestion from them.

Megwepz

is_that_so wrote: »

Then someone searched for either you or the company or it's the tinfoil explanation!

It's a fairly weird coincidence that this particular man chose to search for me/my company and I receive a suggestion as a result of this ten minutes after I have spoken about him for the first time in probably years?

TheShow

I logged into FB on my work computer ages ago. I have since logged out but any searches I do on google on my work desktop come up as ads on my phone on FB or insta etc... its very annoying.

is_that_so

Megwepz wrote: »

It's a fairly weird coincidence that this particular man chose to search for me/my company and I receive a suggestion as a result of this ten minutes after I have spoken about him for the first time in probably years?

It could be and who knows. I used to just say no to all of them and not think about why they were even suggested.

TheShow

FB could also be checking your contacts list on your phone and recognising any results as potential "friends"

3DataModem

Someone searched for you and the guy you mentioned, after your conversation. Facebook used this 3rd party information and took a shot that you knew each other.

Megwepz

punisher5112 wrote: »

I've had similar with ad pop ups ...

Talking to the wife one day about something let's say a phonebox.... Then phonebox ads start popping up.

But like.... surely accessing a phone's microphone is illegal and a gross violation of a person's privacy????

I don't normally get weirded out or dramatic about this stuff, as I say, have had a few strange instances in the past with FB but I've just brushed them off. But this morning just seems blatant without an alternative explanation? I carry this phone everywhere with me, it comes with me to weekly counselling sessions. Is there actually a chance they access my microphone?

Megwepz

TheShow wrote: »

FB could also be checking your contacts list on your phone and recognising any results as potential "friends"

Don't have this man's number in my phone, work or personal. Haven't had contact with him in years

Megwepz

3DataModem wrote: »

Someone searched for you and the guy you mentioned, after your conversation. Facebook used this 3rd party information and took a shot that you knew each other.

There was only 3 of us involved in the conversation, none of us searched for him....

punisher5112

Megwepz wrote: »

But like.... surely accessing a phone's microphone is illegal and a gross violation of a person's privacy????

I don't normally get weirded out or dramatic about this stuff, as I say, have had a few strange instances in the past with FB but I've just brushed them off. But this morning just seems blatant without an alternative explanation? I carry this phone everywhere with me, it comes with me to weekly counselling sessions. Is there actually a chance they access my microphone?

In the small print many apps and social media optain full Access to all your devices controls, contacts, photos even settings.

Tazzimus

Megwepz wrote: »

But like.... surely accessing a phone's microphone is illegal and a gross violation of a person's privacy????

I don't normally get weirded out or dramatic about this stuff, as I say, have had a few strange instances in the past with FB but I've just brushed them off. But this morning just seems blatant without an alternative explanation? I carry this phone everywhere with me, it comes with me to weekly counselling sessions. Is there actually a chance they access my microphone?

It'll usually ask permission and people will usually allow it.
Or, it'll be in the agreement buried somewhere.

Nothing illegal about it.

It was your phone listening, I've had ads pop up on Facebook about things I was talking about to someone.

GBX

Megwepz wrote: »

But like.... surely accessing a phone's microphone is illegal and a gross violation of a person's privacy????

I don't normally get weirded out or dramatic about this stuff, as I say, have had a few strange instances in the past with FB but I've just brushed them off. But this morning just seems blatant without an alternative explanation? I carry this phone everywhere with me, it comes with me to weekly counselling sessions. Is there actually a chance they access my microphone?

A lot of permissions are allowed by default. Its up to the user to disable these. So the microphone may be automatically in use from the start.

Megwepz

punisher5112 wrote: »

In the small print many apps and social media optain full Access to all your devices controls, contacts, photos even settings.

I did have a look at all the privacy settings for both the FB app and the phone itself - couldn't see anything that would give the FB app permission to my contact, photos etc not to mind my microphone!

Then again, I'm sure in the Ts and Cs of signing up (that are probably 30+ pages long and no one reads) there could be something. But still... surely monitoring conversations can't be legal.

Megwepz

GBX wrote: »

A lot of permissions are allowed by default. Its up to the user to disable these. So the microphone may be automatically in use from the start.

Checked this and it's not the case, there were only 2 apps that were listed under the microphone section in settings - Siri and WhatsApp - both of these were off.

punisher5112

Megwepz wrote: »

I did have a look at all the privacy settings for both the FB app and the phone itself - couldn't see anything that would give the FB app permission to my contact, photos etc not to mind my microphone!

Then again, I'm sure in the Ts and Cs of signing up (that are probably 30+ pages long and no one reads) there could be something. But still... surely monitoring conversations can't be legal.

As i said it comes up on the addition of the app and also hidden elsewhere.

Tazzimus

Megwepz wrote: »

I did have a look at all the privacy settings for both the FB app and the phone itself - couldn't see anything that would give the FB app permission to my contact, photos etc not to mind my microphone!

Then again, I'm sure in the Ts and Cs of signing up (that are probably 30+ pages long and no one reads) there could be something. But still... surely monitoring conversations can't be legal.

It is when it's agreed to, which you inadvertently did.

Same way, an Echo or Google Home device will monitor conversations

Megwepz

Megwepz wrote: »

But like.... surely accessing a phone's microphone is illegal and a gross violation of a person's privacy????

Not if you click "yes" to the Ts and Cs it isn't. I thought this was fairly common knowledge that the FB and other apps listen in on your conversations?

Try this later. Find a youtube video of someone speaking Spanish for 30 mins or a Spanish-speaking radio station or something. Leave it playing beside your phone for a while, then see how many of the ads you start seeing around the place are in Spanish.

Megwepz

Deleted User wrote: »

Try this later. Find a youtube video of someone speaking Spanish for 30 mins or a Spanish-speaking radio station or something. Leave it playing beside your phone for a while, then see how many of the ads you start seeing around the place are in Spanish.

I'm honestly gonna try this later, I'll report back.

My skin is kinda crawling, particularly thinking about the conversations I've had with my counsellor. So - what can I do to stop this? I can't remove the app or shut down my page as it's required for work. Am I missing something in the privacy settings that disables their 'permission' to listen to me?

Tazzimus

Megwepz wrote: »

I'm honestly gonna try this later, I'll report back.

My skin is kinda crawling, particularly thinking about the conversations I've had with my counsellor. So - what can I do to stop this? I can't remove the app or shut down my page as it's required for work. Am I missing something in the privacy settings that disables their 'permission' to listen to me?

If it's a work phone, don't bring it.
Or: Turn it off, leave it in the car (if you have one)

It's fairly common knowledge that most smart devices that have a microphone in them will be listening to you.

Stark

If you have the person's phone number or email address in your contacts, it's very likely Facebook suggested them as a friend based on that.

The Facebook app is creepy af. Would never install it, just use the mobile website.

F1ngers

iPhone, go to Settings >> Facebook >> Settings >> slide the Microphone switch to the left so it turns from green to white. ...


Android: Try Settings >> Applications >> Application Manager >> look for Facebook >> Permissions >> Turn off the mic.

In later versions of Android you can manually select and deselect what each app has access to, as far as I know. No idea about apple.

I agree its ultra creepy. I've never had a FB account, could never see the attraction when it first came out. They do, however, have a 'ghost profile' of me, because most of my friends and family have me in their phones and email contacts. If I ever did sign up, they'd be ready to rock with "do you know x, y and z" because of this.

It's weird seeing the levels of intrusion people are willing to put up with. they got a rap on the knuckles recently because there was a feature that suggested you as a friend to someone if you searched their name. Pretty sure the furore was because there was a spate of rape victims who logged in to find their rapist had searched for their name and was now a 'recommended friend.'

Megwepz

Tazzimus wrote: »

If it's a work phone, don't bring it.
Or: Turn it off, leave it in the car (if you have one)

It's fairly common knowledge that most smart devices that have a microphone in them will be listening to you.

Definitely won't be bringing the phone anywhere after this. I know that there is always talk of us being listened to or watched by our devices but I really wanted to believe that these were conspiracies for the most part.

Is there anywhere I can actually find out for certain whether FB have microphone access permission?

Megwepz

F1ngers wrote: »

iPhone, go to Settings >> Facebook >> Settings >> slide the Microphone switch to the left so it turns from green to white. ...


Android: Try Settings >> Applications >> Application Manager >> look for Facebook >> Permissions >> Turn off the mic.

Have an iPhone - looked at this and the microphone wasn't on... also wasn't on in the phone settings....

Megwepz

Deleted User wrote: »

It's weird seeing the levels of intrusion people are willing to put up with. they got a rap on the knuckles recently because there was a feature that suggested you as a friend to someone if you searched their name. Pretty sure the furore was because there was a spate of rape victims who logged in to find their rapist had searched for their name and was now a 'recommended friend.'

It is weird what people will put up with - my partner has basically told me he has no idea why I'm making a big deal of this.... I personally think a corporate company listening to my private conversations IS a MASSIVE deal...

Megwepz

Okay - so to wrap this up and for me to channel my discomfort and slowly brewing anger into something productive

1 - what can I do right now with the phone that I haven't already to stop my microphone being turned on/used?
2 - where can I go or what can I read to find out if I have inadvertently given FB permission to access the microphone?
3 - who can I make a complaint to about FB if I find after reading that they have no right to access my microphone? Is it the data commission?

Doff

Megwepz wrote: »

It is weird what people will put up with - my partner has basically told me he has no idea why I'm making a big deal of this.... I personally think a corporate company listening to my private conversations IS a MASSIVE deal...

You agree to it in the terms and conditions when you sign up. Its done under the pretense of making content delivered to you more engaging and relevant to you. You can find a lot of information online about this practice such as this:
https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/your-iphone-is-recording-your-personal-conversations-despite-apples-privacy-promises.html

Tazzimus

Megwepz wrote: »

Okay - so to wrap this up and for me to channel my discomfort and slowly brewing anger into something productive

1 - what can I do right now with the phone that I haven't already to stop my microphone being turned on/used?
2 - where can I go or what can I read to find out if I have inadvertently given FB permission to access the microphone?
3 - who can I make a complaint to about FB if I find after reading that they have no right to access my microphone? Is it the data commission?

1 - Uninstall the app and use the website instead
2 - You likely agreed to it in the massive t&c bit that no one reads
3 - See 2, nothing illegal took place, so there's no complaint to be made.

Is it an invasion of your privacy? Yes, but one that you agreed to, even if you didn't realise at the time

Megwepz

Right, I'm gonna do some reading of the Ts and Cs and try and find something about giving access to listen in on my conversations. Will update if I do find anything and will also update on any change in adverts, content etc after I subject my phone to Spanish tonight!!! Thanks All

Stark

This is all getting very much like that "HumancentiPad" episode from South Park. "You agreed to this!".

beauf

Don't install the app just use the website. Even then it will track you through cookies etc, and associations.

No one has ever been able to prove for certain how its doing it. I assume it was listening to the mic it would have been leaked by now.

Megwepz

Stark wrote: »

This is all getting very much like that "HumancentiPad" episode from South Park. "You agreed to this!".

I sh*t you not.... this is all I have been thinking about but didn't think anyone would get it if I mentioned it!!!! Thank you for the laugh :pac:

two wheels good

Facebook have a "shadow profile" on you. Even before you registered with Facebook.
That is information they've gleaned about you from your internet activity - at one stage, (not sure if it's still the case) every page you visited that contained a FB icon was tracked.
FB will have hoovered-up your contact information from your friend's that are FB users. They may use proximity information to associate you friends or work colleagues.

It is not in any way paranoia to think the mic and camera are being accessed on your phone or laptop. Is FB doing that? I'm not sure but they and google have been repeatedly exposed to be lying about the extent of their "survellance".

(Interesting interview on Newstalk at the weekend with a Microsoft exec who was promoting his book that advocates more regulation on tech giants.)

ArrBee

step 1.
Uninstall the facebook app.

punisher5112

ArrBee wrote: »

step 1.
Uninstall the facebook app.

Step 2. Burn phone, car and house and anything in it or them......

Step 3 start over.

Megwepz

punisher5112 wrote: »

Step 2. Burn phone, car and house and anything in it or them......

Step 3 start over.

Waaay ahead of you... house up in flames with the phone in it, new passport and identity ordered...Aruba here I come!

punisher5112

Megwepz wrote: »

Waaay ahead of you... house up in flames with the phone in it, new passport and identity ordered...Aruba here I come!

Did you burn all your clothes..... You now have to burn anything you touched .

IrishLad90

punisher5112 wrote: »

I find Facebook on my old phone was logging itself in.... I deleted password and never linked but it would still be open....

I don't trust it to be honest.... Absolutely hate these social media crappy sites.

That's just to keep the number of active people through the roof. Good for company image and promotional stat

Megwepz

punisher5112 wrote: »

Did you burn all your clothes..... You now have to burn anything you touched .

Thank you for your message. The user you are trying to reach no longer exists

OU812

Megwepz wrote: »

Checked this and it's not the case, there were only 2 apps that were listed under the microphone section in settings - Siri and WhatsApp - both of these were off.

Whatsapp is owned by Facebook.

There's probably something in there to say they're allowed to turn it on "from time to time" to monitor for accuracy or some such guff. The y're well covered, but yes, your phone is listening.

punisher5112

I'm getting ads on fire lighters and crime scene clean up companies.....













Oh wait that's just normal for me....

Tiddlypeeps

Megwepz wrote: »

Have an iPhone - looked at this and the microphone wasn't on... also wasn't on in the phone settings....

It's hardly thin foil hat stuff if Facebook have literally been caught red handed doing this stuff before. Apple generally take a dim view of these kinds of things and have threatened them with the ban hammer over it before.


That being said, if you are on an iphone and the microphone settings for that app was off then it's unlikely they are listening to you on the iphone. Could the person you were with have either been on an Android phone or an iPhone with the microphone setting turned on. It's not beyond the realms of feasible that they could pick up on who you are from that and make the connection.