Instagram users have long wondered whether Meta listens to private conversations to serve personalized advertisements.
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Adam Mosseri, CEO and president of Instagram, recently spoke directly to this concern to set the record straight.
On Wednesday, Mosseri shared a video on Instagram aimed at busting the myth that the platform uses microphones to monitor conversations.
“I swear, we do not listen to your microphone,” he stated clearly in the clip, adding that doing so would be “a gross violation of privacy.”
He provided technical reasons why this type of eavesdropping is impossible. If Meta were secretly using microphones, users would notice a green dot on their screen indicating active audio recording, and phone batteries would drain rapidly. This, Mosseri explained, makes the idea of covert listening unrealistic.
Mosseri also offered clarity on why users see ads that seem unusually relevant. Targeted advertisements often result from online activity, including browsing websites and interacting with content.
“We actually do work with advertisers who share information with us about who was on their website to try to target those people with ads,” he explained.
The Instagram algorithm itself is another factor in ad personalization. Ads are shown based on interests inferred from the pages users follow, the posts friends like, and what people with similar tastes engage with. This means ads are often aligned with user activity rather than private conversations.
He addressed the perception that certain ads appear immediately after users talk about them. Mosseri said, “You might have actually seen that ad before you had 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.”
Mosseri also acknowledged that some users may remain skeptical despite his explanation. “I know some of you are just not going to believe me, no matter how much I try to explain it,” he said.
The key message is that Instagram’s ad targeting relies on observable activity and algorithmic predictions, not eavesdropping.
The video coincided with Meta’s announcement of a new AI chat feature that will personalize ads and content for users engaging with Meta AI.
This feature is set to launch on Facebook and Instagram on December 16. Users will receive a notification about the change on October 7, and the AI personalization feature will be mandatory with no option to opt out.
