Facebook app listens to you

Man, this is creepy:

The site, itself, admits in an online statement, “We use your microphone to identify the things you’re listening to or watching, based on the music and TV matches we’re able to identify.” But, experts contend that the site is going a step further. In what some users are calling an alarming trend, described as “Big Brother,”

Facebook also listens for certain buzz words. Once identified, those words trigger an interesting response.  Items are then carefully placed in your Facebook feed, specifically crafted with your interests front and center. Wait!  What?

We tested the theory with Kelli, and even we were surprised by what we found and saw.

Kelli enabled the microphone feature and talked about her desire to go on safari, right down to her mode of transportation.  “I’m really interested in going on an African safari. I think it’d be wonderful to ride in one of those jeeps,” she said aloud, phone in hand.

Less than 60 seconds later, the first post on her Facebook feed was a safari story that seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Turns out, it was a story that had been posted three hours earlier. And, after mentioning a jeep, a car ad also appeared on her page.

I don't use Facebook (it's been years since I last logged in to it), so their app seems pretty useless to me.  If you use the app, you might want to turn the "listen to me" thing off.