You may think of Facebook as a social media company but in reality, they are an advertising company. For years there have been accusations that Facebook is always listening through your smartphone. Facebook has denied this repeatedly, but can you blame them? It’s kind of creepy! Fortunately, there seems to be a way to stop it.
Have you ever been talking to someone about a very specific item or service then later open Facebook and see an advertisement for the exact thing? I can think of a few instances where I have experienced this and have heard the same from others. A few days ago, I was discussing blinker fluid with someone, an oddly specific item to say the least. I have not searched for blinker fluid or seen any ads for it or any similar goofy products previously. A few hours later, I opened Facebook only to see an ad for blinker fluid!
In another instance, I was talking to someone about good local HVAC installers. He mentioned a company I had never heard of here in Blount County, McAlpine Heating & Cooling. A few minutes later I opened Facebook and the first thing in the newsfeed was an ad for McAlpine Heating & Cooling. Clearly McAlpine’s advertising dollars are working because Facebook made it a memorable ad, so memorable this article is giving free advertising for them!
We have gotten used to less and less privacy through the years. Some are ok with that and others are not. If you’re one of the many who wants to limit some of the creepier methods big tech companies have implemented whether they admit it or not, we have some simple steps to disable microphone permissions on your smartphone. This can be done on an iPhone or Android device. You can do this with any app you want to limit what they have access to.
Android Instructions
Here are the steps to disable Facebook’s permission to use your microphone. Open the settings app, scroll down to Apps, then scroll down until you find Facebook, once you click scroll down to Permissions, then tap Microphone and you can allow or deny access. Below are some screenshots of how to do it.
Apple Devices
For Apple devices, open your settings app, scroll down and tap Privacy, then Microphone, from here you can toggle the setting.
