Story:
Good News: Facebook will secretly eavesdrop on your conversations, TV shows and other background noise.
Other Versions
Facebook has announced a new feature for its Smartphone app that will allow the company to listen to your phone conversations via the phone’s microphone.
Analysis:
These messages shared widely on social media sites and elsewhere say that Facebook has come up with a new feature for their Smartphone app that will allow the company to ‘eavesdrop’ on your conversations. Yes, it is a fact that Facebook introduces new feature to its Smartphone app to share and discover Music, TV and Movies, but it’s an opt in (optional) while composing an update. The feature clearly indicates the user about the privacy factor, and Facebook does not secretly eavesdrop on your conversations.
The Facebook Feature
In May 2014, Facebook announced that it is rolling out the new feature for its Smartphone app, which can turn on the user’s microphone and listen to what is happening around him — to identify the songs being played or television being watched. This feature makes it easy for the Facebook user to share in his update what he’s listening to or watching, without typing. The video briefs about this new Facebook feature for Smartphone app.
Not Eavesdropping
The messages shared online sent out a wrong warning that Facebook is going to eavesdrop on user’s phone conversations that raise privacy concerns. However, the company emphasized in its announcement that the feature is an optional one. If a Facebook user opts in, the feature is only activated when he/she is composing an update. When the Smartphone is listening in, which can only happen through the iOS and Android apps, and not through Facebook on a browser, tiny blue bars will appear to notify that the mic has been activated.
Similar to any other Facebook update, you can choose who will see it, and the feature can be turned off any time by clicking the audio icon in the top right of the screen. Notably, Facebook is rolling out the new feature only in the U.S. and emphasizes that no recording is being stored, only the “code.” You can learn more about the feature in Facebook Help Center.
Hoax or Fact:
Mixture of Hoax and Facts.
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