Facebook Wants To

Listen In On What
You're Doing
Facebook had two big announcements this week that
show the companys wildly divergent takes on the
nature of privacy. One announcement is that the
company is encouraging new users to initially share
only with their friends rather than with the general
public, the previous default. And for existing users,
the company plans to break out the old privacy
dinosaur to do a check-up to remind people of
how theyre sharing. Facebook employees say that
using an extinct creature as a symbol for privacy isnt
subtle messaging, but simply an icon to which their
users respond well. Meanwhile, Facebooks second
announcement indicated just how comfortable they
think their users are in sharing every little thing
happening in their lives. Facebook is rolling outa new
feature for its smartphone app that can turn on
users microphones and listen to whats happening
around them to identify songs playing or television
being watched. The pay-off for users in allowing
Facebook to eavesdrop is that the social giant will be
able to add a little tag to their status update that says
theyre watching an episode of Games of Thrones as
they sound off on their happiness (or despair) about
the rise in background sex on TV these days.

Facebooks animal of choice to represent privacy is an extinct one

The aim was to remove every last bit of friction from

the way we reference bits of pop culture on the social
network, writes Ryan Tate of Wired. Depending on
how you feel about informational privacy and/or
your friends taste in pop culture, that statement is
either exhilarating or terrifying.
The feature is an optional one, something the
company emphasizes in its announcement. The tech
giant does seem well-aware that in these days of
Snowden surveillance revelations, people might not
be too keen for Facebook to take control of their
smartphones mic and start listening in on them by
default. Its only rolling out the feature in the U.S.
and a product PR person emphasized repeatedly that
no recording is being stored, only code. Were not
recording audio or sound and sending it to Facebook
or its servers, says Facebook spokesperson Momo
Zhou. We turn the audio it hears into a code code
that is not reversible into audio and then we match
it against a database of code.
If a Facebooker opts in, the feature is only activated
when he or she is composing an update. When the
smartphones listening in something it can only do
through the iOS and Android apps, not through

Facebook on a browser tiny blue bars will appear

to announce the mic has been activated. Facebook
says the microphone will not otherwise be collecting
data. When its listening, it tells you it is matching,
rather than how I might put it, eavesdropping on
your entertainment of choice.
It reminds me of GPS-tagging an update, but with
cultural context rather than location deets. While you
decide whether to add the match to a given Facebook
update, Facebook gets information about what you
were listening to or watching regardless, though it
wont be associated with your profile. If you dont
choose to post and the feature detects a match, we
dont store match information except in an
anonymized form that is not associated with you,
says Zhou. Depending on how many people turn the
feature on, it will be a nice store of information about
what Facebook users are watching and listening to,
even in anonymized form.
Sure, were used to features like this thanks to
existing apps that will recognize a song for us. But
usually when you activate those apps, youre
explicitly doing so to find out the name of a song.
Facebook is hoping to make that process a
background activity to composing a status update
a frictionless share that just happens, the real-world
version of linking your Spotify account to your social
media account allowing playlists to leak through.
Facebook spent a yearhoning its audio sampling and
developing a catalog of content millions of songs
and 160 television stations to match against. Its
obvious that it wants to displace Twitter as the go-to
place for real-time commenting on sporting events,

awards shows, and other communal television

watching. With TV shows, well actually know the
exact season and episode number youre watching,
says Zhou. We built that to prevent spoilers.
So the question now is whether people are willing to
give Facebook eavesdropping powers in exchange for
a little Shazam.

Kashmir HillForbes Staf

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I'm a privacy pragmatist, writing about the intersection of law, technology, social
media and our personal information. If you have story ideas or tips, e-mail me at
khill@forbes.com. PGP key here. These days, I'm a senior online editor at Forbes. I
was previously an editor at Above the Law, a legal blog, relying on the legal
knowledge gained from two years working for corporate law firm Covington &
Burling -- a Cliff's Notes version of law school. In the past, I've been found slaving
away as an intern in midtown Manhattan at The Week Magazine, in Hong Kong at
the International Herald Tribune, and in D.C. at the Washington Examiner. I also
spent a few years traveling the world managing educational programs for

international journalists for the National Press Foundation. I have few illusions
about privacy -- feel free full profile

At American Airlines,
Airbus A321 Is Forcing
Out the A320
At American, the biggest airline in the world, the
Airbus A320 is gradually being replaced by the
Airbus A321, a larger, more-efficient sibling.
The 320 seats 150, while the A321 seats 187 and uses
only slightly more fuel. At a time when U.S. airlines
generally seem to fill nearly every seat they have to
offer, who wouldnt?
At American and US Airways, when weve had
decisions in front of us, weve taken all A321s,
American President Scott Kirby said last week at the
Wolfe Research airline investor conference. Were
migrating to the largest in class for all aircraft.
You can put an extra 60 seats on that airplane and
the cost goes up 10% to 15%, Kirby said.
Its due to high load factors, he added. Were going
to be continuing to migrate up to bigger and bigger
aircraft.
American and US Airways merged in December
2013. US Airways is the worlds largest Airbus
operator, primarily as a result of an order then CEO
Stephen Wolf placed in 1997. The order was

combined with an America West Airbus order after

the carriers merged in 2005.
At the end of the first quarter, the American/US
Airways combined fleet included 108 A321s, 108
A319 and just 68 A320s. The A319, a smaller aircraft,
seats 124. Kirby noted that an A319 has a real
challenge today being successful there are a lot
fewer routes where it works.
In the past year and a half, neither American nor US
Airways has taken any A320s. In the current year,
American Airlines Group expects to take delivery of
42 A321s and ten A319s, while retiring six A320s,
according to spokesman Matt Miller. In 2013, US
Airways took 16 A321s and retired two A320s, while
American took five A321s and 15 A319s.
In April Airbus logged an American order for 71
narrowbody jets, including 64 A321s and seven
A319s.
The same trend exists at other U.S. Airbus operators.
In October, JetBlue took delivery of its first A321,
placed an order for 35 A321s including twenty
A321neos and upsized 18 A320 orders to A321
orders.
A321s better match capacity with demand, said
CEO Dave Barger, in a prepared statement. The
A321 is the ideal aircraft for our high density markets
(and) a sub fleet of the A321s will power our Mint
premium service on the New York-Los Angeles and
New York-San Francisco markets.

In 2016, JetBlue will become the first customer to

take an aircraft manufactured at the new Airbus
plant in Mobile, Ala.
JetBlue has 130 A320s in its fleet, as well as six
A321s and 60 Embraer 190s. The carrier continues to
take delivery of A320s, said spokeswoman Loren
Duran. It has taken one so far this year and took two
last year.
In June, Spirit Airlines said it had order twenty
A321s for delivery between 2015 and 2017 and
converted ten of its A320 orders to A321orders,
scheduled for delivery in 2017 and 2018. Spirits
current fleet consists of 57 aircraft including 29
A319s, 26A320s and two A321s, according to
Planespotter.net.
Meanwhile, Delta said in September that it had
ordered 30 A321s, with deliveries in 2016 and 2017.
Deltas fleet of 745 aircraft includes 57A319s and 69
A320s.
Aviation consultant Robert Mann called the A320,
both the current model and the new engine model, a
stalwart, but said the A318 is extinct and the A319 is
headed there.
Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell said Youre seen
a number of airlines making conversions from A319s
and A320s to A321s in the last year or so. Youre
seeing it elsewhere in the world too, not just here in
the North American market.
Obviously all three airplanes are great products that

meet the needs of different market segments,

McConnell said.

Ted ReedContributor
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