Facebook is very interested in who you live with according to a new patent

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I think at this point it’s safe to say that most of you reading this article realize that you are the product when it comes to Facebook. Sure, it offers some handy and helpful features, but when it comes to your privacy, well, that’s a different story. Facebook wants your data. It wants to know everything there is to know about you so it can better serve you ads.

Now, according to Buzzfeed News and a new patent application, Facebook wants to know you live with because those cool cats probably like things similar to you and maybe your information can tie them to more ads to make Facebook more money.

Here’s how it would work

So, basically, how this would work is that it will use facial recognition technology to match people with other people. It will then use captions associated with those images to start making a profile of users and through a bunch of notes and strings on the wall, device histories, and IP addresses, Facebook will start building more in-depth household profiles.

Image: USPTO

Wording from the patent includes,

An online system predicts household features of a user, e.g., size and demographic composition of the user’s household, based on image data of the user. Examples of image data of a user include profile photos of the user, e.g., profile photos of the same user on different online systems, e.g., FACEBOOK.TM. and INSTAGRAM.TM.. The image data of the user may also include photos posted by other users that may include members of the user’s household

Oh, and by the way, take note of that little part about halfway through, it will also pull Instagram images and captions for the household profiles.

Why is Facebook doing this?

C’mon, this one is pretty easy. Say it with me now, ad targeting.

While plenty of people are still using Facebook daily, with so many recent issues with the service, Facebook continues to find new ways to not only gather mass amounts of data on its users but find new ways to target us with ads, as well.

What do you think of the news? Is it upsetting? Let us know in the comments below.

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Josiah Motley

Former KnowTechie editor.