If you spend any amount of time on the internet, you’ve probably experienced the uncanny phenomenon of seeing adverts relating directly to something you’ve previously searched for. “Oh, that’s weird,” you think, for a split second. “How does Facebook know I’m on the hunt for the perfect navy jumper?”

Then you remember that targeted advertising is very much a thing, that Google knows an awful lot about your interests and desires, and that WhatsApp shares its data with Facebook to deliver you ads for stuff you’ve been messaging your friends about. In other words, you accept these ads as just another, slightly eerie, facet of life in 2017.

More unnerving, however, is when you see an advert relating to a conversation you had in real life, on a subject you’ve never searched or discussed online. Rumours have swirled for some time about whether smartphones and voice assistant devices, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home, listen into conversations in order to serve relevant advertising. It’s definitely a creepy idea, but not one that’s not beyond the realms of possibility.

However, a Facebook executive has now categorically denied that the social media giant listens into users’ conversations, BBC News reports.

Facebook denies listening to your real-life conversations: “Just not true”