loki
HOMO
Posts 2074
Registered 6-11-2004 Member Is Offline Mood: Primed
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| posted on 4-29-2017 at 04:56 AM |
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Facebook is worse than a stalker, apparently
I�m going to toss this out to BFG, or anyone else who knows the way computer algorithms might work. It was something odd I noticed, and I'm not
sure what the explanation for it is.
Setting the scene: I am out of state on military duty. The group I�m assigned to created an FB page for our time down here. Because I have a thing
about keeping military and civilian life separate, and since everything will be temporary, I made a brand new FB account just for this event. I
created a new yahoo account under a fake name to register the FB account. There are no contacts in the email account, and the only messages in there
are from Yahoo and FB. The FB account has my name, but I gave a false bday and didn�t bother to change the city, so it has me listed as the city and
state I�m in. In other words, aside from my name, nothing on the account is correct.
The computer I�m using is not my personal one, but is connected to my civilian email. I never accessed my personal FB account from it. And yet, two of
the top people on the initial list of �people you may know� were an old high school friend and an officer from my unit, who is stationed over a
thousand miles from where I�m currently at.
24 hours later I look at the �people you may know� section, and half of them are relatives, friends, co-workers, and people from my base.
This leads to my question - how did FB know how to populate my possible friends list? The only two connections I can think of are the phone number I
entered (as it now sends you a text to verify the account, and a number of the people showing up are people whose phone numbers I have in my phone)
and the cookies on my computer. Still, even taking those into account, how does it so accurately know who I know?
As a side note, the FB app that came with my android phone is disabled and has never been used. Do FB and Google share info? Or is this FB app still
pulling data from my phone, even though the app is disabled?
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whyme
Man of a Thousand Holds
Posts 1027
Registered 2-4-2003 Location in my house Member Is Offline Mood: Minty Fresh
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| posted on 4-29-2017 at 07:19 PM |
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not an expert by any means but my best guess is from phone numbers.
i tested this with tinder dates that i went on. got the girls phone number and saved it in the phone. after the date i went to the people you may
know section and what do ya know, there she was.
it's amazing how much people don't care that facebook keeps all this data on them.
Two Penguins sitting in a bathtub, one says pass the radio.
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the goon
Sister Act
Posts 6323
Registered 3-13-2004 Location Charlotte, NC Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 5-1-2017 at 02:53 AM |
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I'm not an expert either, but I think whyme is right about it being your phone number.
And I had a similar situation with Facebook. My wife and I started house hunting a couple of months ago and the day that I started looking up houses
in our area online, all of the sponsored ads that were popping up on my Facebook were realty/home buying ads.
Nash is only a few inches bigger than JBL and depending on how stiff he gets Punk should be able to take it. -JB King, meant in a totally non-sexual
way
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Matte
"Family Man" 
Posts 9586
Registered 12-16-2008 Member Is Offline Mood: #BROKEN
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| posted on 7-16-2017 at 10:11 PM |
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This is an older thread, but I wanted to mention that not only does Facebook keep tabs on your online searches, it also appears to keep tabs on your
conversations. If you have your phone mic enabled through the app, it seems to listen in and cater ads to things you've mentioned.
"I'm a professional. I know exactly what I'm doing." - Jeff Hardy
The Multiversal MegaTurbo Ultimate Showdown Supreme of the INHUMANS~!
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bigfatgoalie
The Man
Posts 6501
Registered 1-16-2002 Location Stratusphere Member Is Offline Mood: Stratusfied
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| posted on 7-17-2017 at 12:25 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Matte
This is an older thread, but I wanted to mention that not only does Facebook keep tabs on your online searches, it also appears to keep tabs on your
conversations. If you have your phone mic enabled through the app, it seems to listen in and cater ads to things you've mentioned.
http://www.snopes.com/2016/06/04/professor-claims-facebook-is-eavesdropping-on-their-users/
Your conspiracy theory is bad and you should feel bad.
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Matte
"Family Man"
Posts 9586
Registered 12-16-2008 Member Is Offline Mood: #BROKEN
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| posted on 7-17-2017 at 04:40 AM |
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I used the phrases "appears to" and "seems to" to avoid sounding definitive because I'd only heard some friends claiming it. I don't
use the app so I have no stake in it being an actual thing or not. Good to hear it's most likely not true.
"I'm a professional. I know exactly what I'm doing." - Jeff Hardy
The Multiversal MegaTurbo Ultimate Showdown Supreme of the INHUMANS~!
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