Lisa Mugo
Instagram Head, Adam Mosseri has addressed long-standing rumors that the app listens to users’ conversations to generate targeted ads, firmly denying the claims.
In an Instagram post, Mosseri shared a video which he referred to as ‘myth busting.’ He revealed that he has had lots of passionate conversations around the topic.
“We do not listen to you. We do not use the phone’s microphone to eavesdrop on you.”
The father of three also added that if they did so, the practice would be considered a serious privacy violation, would quickly drain users’ phone batteries, and would trigger a visible microphone indicator on devices.
Mosseri however went on to defend Instagram by listing four reasons why users could be seeing advertisements for things that they have spoken about. “Maybe you actually tapped on something that was related or even tapped on the product on a website, maybe before you had that conversation,” he said. He went on to reveal that they work with advertisers to share information with Instagram about who was on their website.
The second reason why users could be seeing advertisements that they have had conversations with according to Mosseri is that they show users products that they think the users could be interested in based on what their friends and similar people with similar interests are interested in.
The third reason is that users may have seen the advertisement before having the conversation and not realized it. “We scroll by ads quickly and sometimes you internalize some of that and that actually affects what you talk about later,” he said.
Mosseri finished the video by listing his fourth reason stating that it is just simply a coincidence and it does happen from time to time. He also acknowledged that not a lot of people would believe him and that he is looking forward to the comments.
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