Facebook Denies Eavesdropping Allegations, Says It Is Not Using Users’ Microphone Audio

Recently, reports of Facebook eavesdropping on its users' conversations went viral on the internet. It was claimed that the social networking website has been tapping into users' microphones to snoop on their conversations.

"Kelli Burns, mass communication professor at the University of South Florida, believes the Facebook app may be gathering data on what people's are talking to each other about," reported Trusted Reviews.

"The Facebook app uses the device's microphone to gather information about 'what's going on around the phone' in order to suggest music and video they may like to post about."

Responding to the allegations, Facebook said that it does not use microphone audio to inform advertising or News Feed stories in any way.

"Businesses are able to serve relevant ads based on people's interests and other demographic information, but not through audio collection," a spokesperson told The Independent.

The social networking giant has confirmed that they only access microphone based on app permission settings, and if the concerned user actively makes use of a feature that consumes audio.

Now, new reports suggest Professor Kelli Burns has denied claims that she believes Facebook is keeping a check on users' conversations via their smartphones' microphones.

"Nowhere have I heard anything about Facebook serving you your friends' posts based on what you are saying or Googling," Prof Burns said.

"This friend has a lot of friends, and gets a lot of engagement, it's no surprise that it would be at the top of my feed."

The professor said that she never claimed that Facebook was snooping on users' calls. She said the story had been blown out of proportion.

"Although the angle of the story was supportive of the idea that Facebook uses the microphone I never made the claim that I believe that is happening, or that my one experiment with a reporter was in any way proof of that happening," she added.

For users who are still concerned about their privacy, they can turn off permission for the Facebook app to access their microphones. To do so, users will one need only go to Settings > Apps> Facebook> App Permissions and toggle off the Facebook app's access to the microphone.