Facebook confesses that it has new spy equipment called Portal, a voice-activated speaker and video chat gadget the company announced last week. The company explained that this new technology could collect data about the users and then utilize the information gathered to target ads.
Facebook has recanted the claim made by an earlier report that Portal cannot collect data to target users with ads on Facebook. Even though Facebook might not really collect data for ad targeting, it cannot be overlooked that that company just stated that Portal is fully capable of doing it.
According to Facebook, "Portal voice calling is built on the Messenger infrastructure, so when you make a video call on Portal, we collect the same types of information (i.e., usage data such as length of calls, the frequency of calls) that we collect on other Messenger-enabled devices." Facebook added that the information might be used to inform the ads that users can see on their feeds. The company also admitted that other general usage data, such as how the users utilize their apps and much more other information could aid in the methods that the company uses to serve or present ads.
However, in another interview, Facebook's Rafa Camargo told Recode that the statement by Facebook intended only to show that Portal has the potential of being used for ad targeting. However, the company has no intention of doing that. From all these conflicting statements, it seems that the company's communication team is in a conundrum.
Whether or not Facebook uses the said equipment and violates users' privacy, this admission is enough to cause more intense scrutiny on the company's privacy mechanisms. The admission also seemingly refuted what Facebook head of devices Andrew Bosworth told Daily Telegraph when Portal was launched. According to Bosworth, privacy and security are the very first priorities when manufacturing their products. Whenever a product is introduced to the consumers, the company always strive to make sure the consumers have the complete control of how the product is going to be integrated into their lives.
Pat Walshe of Privacy Matters claimed that Portal could be compared to Dracula given the responsibility of manning the blood bank. He claimed that what is more problematic about Portal is that its privacy policy does not detail anywhere whether Facebook can or will use data for the company's broader advertising activities.
