Facebook and its siblings are spying on us

While reading a recent article on Rai Al Youm titled 'What Does Facebook Really Know About You?', I was reminded of an incident years ago at our old radio workplace.
A colleague claimed our phones could record conversations even when switched off. To prove it, he powered his device down, left the room, and asked us to talk freely. Upon returning, he restarted the phone — and to our surprise, our voices and images had been recorded.
That moment was revealing. In today's hyper-digital world, surveillance technologies have grown remarkably sophisticated. We now carry devices that constantly monitor our activities and transmit our private lives to unseen parties.
Chief among these tools is the smartphone — equipped with social media apps, GPS, cameras, and microphones — effectively turning every user into a traceable subject.
Among the most pervasive digital platforms, Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) have drawn particular scrutiny.
The Rai Al Youm report focused on Facebook’s evolution from a social platform to a vast surveillance network, powered by advanced artificial intelligence capable of collecting, analysing, and interpreting user behaviour at astonishing levels of precision.
The report asserts that Facebook now understands its users better than their closest relatives.
With over 2.1 billion daily users and more than 3 billion monthly users — nearly half the global Internet population — Facebook is not just a communication tool but a critical data-gathering infrastructure.
It analyses every post, comment, reaction, and even time spent on the platform. It tracks interaction patterns, evaluates proximity to friends, and detects the type of content that draws attention.
These insights are processed through sophisticated AI systems that can recognise faces in photos, read text in posts, determine exact locations, and even predict future interests.
This surveillance extends beyond Facebook to its associated platforms — WhatsApp and Instagram — forming a unified user profile for targeted advertising and content delivery.
Perhaps most concerning is Facebook’s Pixel tool, introduced in 2015. It's a piece of code embedded in third-party websites to monitor users’ shopping habits and link them to their Facebook accounts, even if users are not active on the app itself. This data powers an advertising system that exploits human behaviour in unprecedented detail.
But does Facebook actually listen to conversations? Officially, the company denies using microphones for surveillance. However, a 2019 investigation by Bloomberg revealed that Facebook employed external firms to transcribe voice chats on Messenger, fuelling concerns about the platform’s reach into users’ private lives.
This brings us to a larger question: is this all just for marketing, or is something deeper at play?
In my view, reducing these practices to mere commercial targeting is a gross oversimplification. The real objective seems far more expansive.
The reality is that digital surveillance has become effortless. Every tap, website visit, and voice note contributes to a growing digital file — a mirror of our lives — that algorithms use to build psychological and behavioural profiles.
Although users can view some of their activity logs, Rai Al Youm notes that a large portion of the data collected remains hidden and is used for internal analysis. This raises serious questions: Are tech companies part of a larger surveillance mechanism? Can users be blamed for agreeing to unread terms of service? And even if they do read them, can they refuse without losing access?
The article also asks: Can Facebook be stopped from tracking you? The answer appears to be no. Simply using the platform requires granting it extensive permissions. This creates a profound dilemma.
When social media platforms monitor every move and generate highly detailed digital profiles — including users' political leanings and psychological states — it becomes clear that privacy, as we once knew it, is vanishing.
Interestingly, the rise of social media has rendered traditional public surveys nearly obsolete. Why commission a questionnaire when user behaviour online offers real-time insights into public sentiment?
Governments that genuinely care about their citizens could use this information to understand people’s needs, rather than surveil and punish them for harmless posts — as often happens in parts of the Arab world.
Social media has, without question, reshaped society. Some now speak more boldly behind screens than they ever would in person. Others chase viral fame more than meaningful engagement. Yet these platforms have also empowered previously unheard voices and raised global awareness of human rights issues — Gaza being a prime example.
With smartphones, GPS tracking, browsing history, and AI, we are all exposed. Concepts like freedom, privacy, and identity are being reshaped by technologies we barely understand. There may be no going back. From smartwatches to smart homes, the age of constant digital observation is here. One click on a search platform can reveal everything someone has ever posted.
Translated by Badr al Dhafri
The original version of the article was published in the print edition of Oman, the Arabic daily newspaper, on August 4