Facebook will now pay to listen to your voice recordings – report

Facebook will now offer users rewards points in exchange for their voice recordings, according to a report by The Verge on Thursday.

This means that the company will officially pay to listen to you via a new research programme rather than secretly listen to your private conversations, like it previously did on Messenger.

The programme, called “Pronunciations”, comes as part of research conducted through Facebook’s Viewpoints app, a survey tool the company released last year.

As part of the programme, users will be recorded saying “Hey Portal” as well as the name of a friend. While each recording must be made twice, users can record up to ten different names on their Facebook friends list as well.

According to Facebook, each set of recordings will earn users 200 points on the Viewpoints app. Users can only cash their rewards, however, when they reach 1000 points.

The company plans to gradually roll out Pronunciations to users in the United States who are over the age of 18 and have more than 75 Facebook friends.

Feature image: NeONBRAND via Upsplash