Can Facebook really spy on you?

Can Facebook really spy on you?

Facebook has recently faced many data privacy crises, so you may have heard rumors or read reports that Facebook can spy on you using your smartphone's camera or microphone. But is that really true? How can he know a lot about you?

Can Facebook application spy on users?

Last November, an iPhone user posted a tweet on Twitter showing that when he browse the news feed in his Facebook account, he finds that the iPhone's camera opens at odd times. Other users have investigated the issue and found similar problems, there is no reason for this to happen, and it is very disturbing to believe that the application spies on users without their knowledge.

A report in the Guardian newspaper confirmed that there is an error in the application of Facebook on iPhone phones that allows the application access to the camera of the phone during use, but a spokesman for the company insisted on not uploading any photos or videos because of this error and that it is a security error already, not an actual attempt to spy on users.

The company has already provided a fix for the issue and launched an app version update on the App Store very quickly, and now there is no problem with the app.

Does Facebook use your phone's microphone or camera to spy on you?

This story makes the headlines because many people are skeptical about how Facebook collects information about them.There is a widespread belief that the app runs invisibly on camera or phone microphone to spy on users.

We all know it's a terrifying feeling to talk about a product and suddenly you find its ads appearing on your Facebook news feed, and despite the security error mentioned above, there is no evidence that Facebook is actually doing this. The company has vehemently denied this in the past, saying: “The fear of spying on you using your phone's microphone over time is something that just spins over your head.”

The fact is that Facebook does not need to spy on you through your phone's microphone or camera in order to target you with ads precisely, because Facebook can predict your buying behavior very accurately through the huge amounts of information you post on it daily.

The app also depends on your location to target your ads, knowing where you live, and where you spend most of your time Facebook can predict a lot about your interests and purchasing habits. When the app detects that you're in a new location, such as you're traveling to a new location, this is a signal that shows holiday ads or travel related things.

Facebook also relies on a tool called Facebook Pixel, a code that webmasters use to track and re-target visitors to ads, similar to a browser cookie, but exclusive to Facebook, that's why when you search for a specific product on Amazon For example, then you sign in to Facebook, you often see an ad for only the product you were looking for.

Other sources of your data are your friends and family. Facebook assumes that if a close friend is interested in a product, there is a high probability that you are interested in it too. It also uses information such as your stated interests, pages you like to create a profile for you, and all this information can predict your habits and behaviors well.

How you can prevent Facebook from following you online:

Deleting your Facebook account: This is the best way to stop Facebook from collecting your data, but be sure to permanently delete the account, not just deactivate it, because even if you turn off account activation, Facebook will continue to collect data about you.

Use some browser extensions that prevent Facebook tracking: There are extensions for both Chrome and Firefox to limit the amount of data Facebook can collect about you, such as adding Disconnect to Chrome, or Facebook Container Extension for Firefox.

Use tools to block Facebook Pixel: There are also some extensions that help you prevent any site from following you while you browse, such as Ghostery that allows you to disable sites that follow you on web pages.

Additional steps to limit Facebook tracking:

All of the above steps limit Facebook tracking for you while browsing websites, but you should adjust your account settings on Facebook itself to minimize the data it can access.It is always good to check your privacy settings.

Turn off permissions granted to the app on your phone: This step helps revoke the app's access to your camera and microphone. But keep in mind that in this case you will not be able to take pictures directly through the app. But you’ll be sure that the app is not watching or listening to you.