Last week, Facebook announced its Portal devices that are made for video chats and have AI technology to follow movements of its users. Many were skeptical as the company has been facing some privacy and security breach issues, but the company said that data will not be collected through the devices so users won’t have worry about the intrusion of privacy.
However, Facebook recently came out with another statement that contradicts the previous statements, stating that the company can indeed collect data from users to be used for ad targeting. As the Portal devices are also using Messenger as a platform for video calls, similar information that is enabled on Messenger can be collected, which is then used to serve ads.
Rafa Camargo, the VP in charge of Portal said that Portal doesn’t run ads, so there are no intentions of using the data collected for ad targeting, though that only applies to Portal and not other Facebook apps. He further explained that his colleague might have intended to say that they have no plans on using it though it could be used, but misspoke and conveyed the message wrongly.
Ultimately, the conclusion is that Facebook will still collect your data and use it to target you with ads, even though your Portal devices will be ad-free. This will definitely further discourage users who are already doubtful of Facebook to buy the new Portal devices with cameras and microphones that are owned by Facebook.