- Jan 8, 2011
- 22,361
A patent application filed by the Menlo Park-based company details a convoluted process to trigger users' devices to record the ambient audio surrounding them — be that your conversation or the sounds in your bedroom — and then send some form of data based on that recording back to the company.
Facebook, when reached for comment, claimed it has no intention of ever actually implementing the technology described in the application. Which, of course, makes one wonder why it bothered to apply for a patent on it in the first place.
Thankfully, Facebook VP and Deputy General Counsel Allen Lo is here to clear that up.
“It is common practice to file patents to prevent aggression from other companies," Lo said in a statement to Mashable. "Because of this, patents tend to focus on future-looking technology that is often speculative in nature and could be commercialized by other companies."
Phew! Facebook is just doing this to protect us from other companies that may eventually want to record us through our phones' microphones.
That sounds... believable.