Although it has long been assumed by millions, a recent leak indicates that our phones are listening to us. A purported presentation deck from one of Facebook’s purported marketing partners describes how the company listens to user interactions to provide customised advertisements.
In a slideshow, Cox Media Group (CMG) claims that its ‘Active-Listening’ software uses AI to collect and study ‘real-time intent data’ by listening to what you say through your phone, laptop or home assistant microphone.
‘Advertisers can pair this voice data with behavioural data to target in-market consumers,’ the deck states.
The pitch deck goes on to tout Facebook, Google and Amazon as clients of CMG, suggesting they could be using its Active-Listening service to target users.
The pitch deck was leaked to reporters at 404 Media that showcases the abilities of Active-Listening software to prospective customers.
Since the story broke, Google removed the media group from their ‘Partners Program’ website.
In an email statement to DailyMail.com, a Meta spokesperson said, ‘Meta does not use your phone’s microphone for ads, and we’ve been public about this for years. We are reaching out to CMG to get them to clarify that their program is not based on Metadata.’
Amazon responded to 404 Media by saying that its ads arm ‘has never worked with CMG on this program and has no plans to do so.’
However, the spokesperson added that the company will take action if one of its marketing partners violates its rules, leaving the status of Amazon’s relationship with CMG somewhat unclear.
The presentation explains the six steps that CMG’s Active-Listening software takes to gather speech data from customers using any gadget that has a microphone, such as a laptop, smartphone, or home assistant.
The presentation does not make it obvious if the Active-Listening software is listening all the time or only when the phone microphone is turned on, such as during a call.
Advertisers then use these insights to target ‘in-market consumers,’ which are people actively thinking about buying a certain product or service.
If your voice or behavioural data suggests you are contemplating purchasing something, they will serve you advertisements for that item.
For instance, discussing or looking for Toyota vehicles may cause you to see advertisements for their most recent models.
‘Once launched, the technology automatically analyzes your site traffic and customers to fuel audience targeting on an ongoing basis,’ the deck states.
Therefore, this might be the case if you believe that you encounter more advertisements for a certain product after discussing it with a friend or looking it up online.
For years, smart-device users have suspected that their phones or tablets are listening to what they say. But most tech firms have flat-out repudiated these claims.
For example, Meta’s online privacy centre states, ‘We understand that sometimes ads can be so specific, it seems like we must be listening to your conversations through your microphone, but we’re not.’
However, this breach is only the most recent in a string of reports that your phone is listening to you and that websites like Facebook could be profiting off your words.
404 Media first announced the presence of CMG’s active listening service in December 2023.
A day later, they exposed a small AI marketing company called MindSift for bragging on a podcast about using smart device speakers to target ads.
Although it may seem incredible, Active Listening is completely legal, CMG claimed in a since-deleted blog post from November 2023.
‘We know what you’re thinking. Is this even legal? The short answer is: yes. It is legal for phones and devices to listen to you,’ the post reads.
‘When a new app download or update prompts consumers with multi-page terms of use agreement somewhere in the fine print, Active Listening is often included.’
This may be the reason why CMG can get away with it in places like California where wiretapping laws forbid recording someone without their consent.
CMG did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment and has not yet responded to similar queries from other news sites, including Futurism and Gizmodo.
CMG is a an American media empire based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company provides broadcast media, digital media, advertising and marketing services, and it yielded $22.1 billion in revenue in 2022.
Throughout the years, I have had conversations with people about fairly specific topics, and even though I may not have previously Googled or searched for them, by the time I check Facebook, an advertisement appears that it deems pertinent and related to the topic I was discussing, making it impossible for them to claim they are not paying attention.
This has to be prohibited right away since it is a flagrant invasion of privacy with a great deal of room for misuse.
Anybody with a brain larger than a walnut is aware that smart devices listen in on conversations.
Smart metres track when you get up and go to bed. Supermarkets monitor what you buy, and banks track more or less every transaction – pretty soon cars will be tracking the places you visit if they don’t already.
More and more facial recognition will be tracking you, and AI will predict where you will be and when, under the disguise of, ‘If you’ve got nothing to hide,’ ‘Or it’s for your protection.’ The future is going to be very bleak indeed.
George Orwell wrote the novel ‘1984’, perhaps this was his instruction manual for us all.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 