Instagram Ads: Surveillance or Coincidence? Why the Platform Shows Ads That Match Your Conversations – The420.in

For millions of Instagram users, the experience has become eerily familiar — a casual conversation about a product, destination or service, followed soon after by an advertisement for the same item appearing on their feed. The pattern has fuelled persistent suspicion that Instagram may be secretly listening to users through smartphone microphones. Meta has repeatedly rejected the allegation, maintaining that the explanation lies not in audio surveillance but in advanced data-driven advertising systems.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri has categorically stated that the platform does not activate users’ microphones to listen to conversations for ad targeting. According to Mosseri, such practices would violate both company policies and app store regulations. However, he has acknowledged that Instagram’s ads can often feel “uncomfortably accurate” — a result, he says, of how modern advertising technology is designed to predict user interests.
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According to Meta’s disclosures and statements by Mosseri, Instagram builds detailed advertising profiles by analysing a broad spectrum of user behaviour. This includes what users search for, like, comment on, save, share, or watch repeatedly within the app. Even seemingly minor actions — such as pausing briefly on a reel, rewatching a clip, or scrolling slowly past a post — can be interpreted by algorithms as signals of interest.
Beyond in-app activity, Meta also tracks behaviour across the wider internet. Through tools such as Meta Pixel, cookies and advertising partners, the company collects data when users browse shopping websites, read product reviews, or click links on platforms that share information with Meta. These external interactions can later influence the advertisements shown on Instagram and Facebook.
Meta describes this approach as “hyper-personalised advertising”, where ads are generated based on patterns of behaviour rather than direct listening. Privacy experts note that the human tendency to link recent conversations with subsequent ads often creates the illusion of surveillance, even when the connection is behavioural rather than verbal.
In recent months, Meta has consolidated advertising controls for Facebook and Instagram under a unified Account Centre, allowing users to manage how their data is used for ad targeting more easily.
To reduce personalised ads on Instagram, users can visit their profile, tap the three-line menu and open Account Centre. Under Ad Preferences, selecting Manage Information enables users to review how their data influences ads. By navigating to Activity Information from Ad Partners, users can restrict the use of data collected from external websites and apps for ad personalisation.
Another key option is Off-Meta Activity, which governs whether Meta can use information gathered from other platforms. Within Your Information and Ad Permissions, users can access Your Activity off Meta Technologies to disconnect specific activity or disable future tracking entirely. Meta may require password verification before applying these changes.
Adjusting these settings does not reduce the number of ads shown on Instagram. Instead, it alters the basis on which ads are displayed. Users will continue to see advertisements, but they may be less closely tailored to individual browsing habits or activity on third-party apps and websites.
Privacy advocates point out that Meta has steadily expanded the scope of data used for advertising. The company has acknowledged that interactions with WhatsApp Status and conversations with Meta’s AI chatbot may also influence ad targeting, raising fresh concerns about how broadly user behaviour is interpreted.
Experts recommend that users periodically review their Ad Topics settings to remove interests that are no longer relevant. While ads cannot be eliminated altogether, these steps can reduce the sense that Instagram “knows too much” about personal preferences.
Meta maintains that Instagram does not listen to users’ conversations. However, the combination of cross-platform tracking, behavioural analysis and predictive algorithms often blurs the line between coincidence and data-driven targeting. As regulators worldwide intensify scrutiny of digital advertising practices, questions around user awareness, consent and control over personal data remain central to the privacy debate.
For now, Instagram’s position is clear: it is not listening — but it is closely watching how users behave online.
About the author – Rehan Khan is a law student and legal journalist with a keen interest in cybercrime, digital fraud, and emerging technology laws. He writes on the intersection of law, cybersecurity, and online safety, focusing on developments that impact individuals and institutions in India.
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