Stop the laughter for a moment. This isn't a joke. Facebook is serious.

In announcing the Portal product (as in "Hey, Portal,") Facebook bent over backward to assure consumers that it takes your privacy seriously.

That strategy took several steps backward Wednesday with the admission that yes, indeed, Facebook did want to track your calls and sell ads based on the data elsewhere on Facebook.

"We may use this information to inform the ads we show you across our platforms," Facebook told tech news site ReCode. " Other general usage data, such as aggregate usage of apps, etc., may also feed into the information that we use to serve ads."

That's a far cry from what Facebook has been telling consumers on the Portal website.

"Portal was created with privacy, safety and security in mind," the company says. "Facebook doesn't listen to, view or keep the contents of your Portal video calls. Your Portal conversations stay between you and the people you're calling."