Everyone always jokes about how their devices are listening to them in order to give them target advertisements, and once again, we have confirmation that it actually happens. Cox Media Group, a conservative-leaning media, news, and entertainment company that counts Facebook, Amazon, and Google as its clients, admitted in one of its client pitch decks that it uses “Active Listening” software to listen to users thru their smartphones so they can send us ads accordingly. If you’ve ever made that “my phone is listening” joke, you can properly feel vindicated now.
In a pitch deck to prospective customers, one of Facebook’s alleged marketing partners explained how it listens to users’ smartphone microphones and advertises to them accordingly. As 404 Media reports based on documents leaked to its reporters, the TV and radio news giant Cox Media Group (CMG) claims that its so-called “Active Listening” software uses artificial intelligence (AI) to “capture real-time intent data by listening to our conversations.”
“Advertisers can pair this voice-data with behavioral data to target in-market consumers,” the deck continues.
In the same slideshow, CMG counted Facebook, Google, and Amazon as clients of its “Active Listening” service. After 404 reached out to Google about its partnership, the tech giant removed the media group from the site for its “Partners Program,” which prompted Meta, the owner of Facebook, to admit that it is reviewing CMG to see if it violates any of its terms of service.
An Amazon spokesperson, meanwhile, told 404 that its Ads arm “has never worked with CMG on this program and has no plans to do so. The spox added, confusingly, that if one of its marketing partners violates its rules, the company will take action.
This latest leak marks the third time in a year that 404 has reported on CMG’s shady voice targeting service. Last December, the independent news site not only put a marketing company on blast for boasting about such creepy tech on its podcast, but also revealed the existence of CMG’s Active Listening feature.
Together with this latest update to the CMG saga, these stories bolster longstanding suspicions about advertisers using our phones to listen to us.
“We know what you’re thinking. Is this even legal?” a since-deleted Cox blog post from November 2023 noted. “It is legal for phones and devices to listen to you. When a new app download or update prompts consumers with a multi-page term of use agreement somewhere in the fine print, Active Listening is often included.”
Beyond taking a big game, CMG did not cop to how it acquires its alleged voice data, instead saying only that it can identify users who are “ready-to-buy” and create targeted ad lists based on their interests. For this service, the media group that specializes in hyperlocal news charges $100 per day to target folks in a 10-mile radius, and $200 per day to target those in a 20-mile radius.
In its own reporting on the leak, Gizmodo found that CMG had not yet responded to its email asking for more information about “Active Listening,” and Futurism has also not yet heard back from our own queries.
Given that the company boasted about it on its public — and still archived — website before anyone began paying attention, however, it seems like it would be pretty hard at this juncture to deny that it was charging for its eavesdropping.
This is gross but completely unsurprising. It is honestly kinda chilling that these companies can identify us as consumers in such detail. It is absolutely f-cking unacceptable that it’s legal for companies to have our phones and devices listen to us. I don’t care if it’s hidden within the fine print of some agreement. It should not be this easy to just sign away our rights to privacy. I swear, sometimes, these companies can read our minds as well as listen to our phones. I have been targeted-advertised things that I swear I have only thought of, not said out loud! I want to know how they do that trick.
PSA: I just turned off active listening on my iPhone. If you haven’t already done so, you can go into “Settings,” then into “Privacy & Security.” Tap the “Microphone” option and turn that puppy off on any apps that have no business having access to it.
Photos via Instagram and credit Getty
I can’t stand Zuckerberg. He’s such a little rat. I loath Elon but Zuck irks my soul. I turned off my phone mic too.
Am I really gonna have to start reading terms and conditions like a responsible adult?
I also can’t stand Zuckerberg. But when I get super irritated over his existence I like to remember that ridiculous Senate hearing where his aides rushed in and put a booster seat in his chair before he entered. It was hilarious!
Maybe. Many years ago, I decided not to sign on to Facebook — because I actually read through the privacy policy, and there was a line that suggested that they had the right to connect my account and the information that I provided with other sources of information about me: from both online and offline sources. Other privacy statements that I’ve read have similar wording, and note that data will be shared with “partners “ and subsidiaries, and add that if the company gets sold or adds new, unnamed “partners.” these entities will have access to my data as well. I get that any data that I voluntarily provide is fair game, but the part about connecting the data that I voluntarily provide with data from virtually ANY other sources takes me aback, especially since that could include data acquired from other people, should, for example, someone allow access to their phone contacts that might include a great deal of data about me — from pictures to my birthdate and other personal identifying information.
TLDR: I’m old enough to remember actual privacy, and this commodification of personal data sucks. Trudging off in my robe and slippers to ramble on about data breaches that corporations shrug off as just a part of doing busines.
He looks like that SpongeBob dude who is dating Ariana Grande
I’m an old, so when I am not actually using my phone it goes in a drawer in my hallway. I take it out to do something (make a call, WhatsApp my family etc) and the volume is turned up so I hear if someone is trying to reach me but otherwise I don’t need it, don’t use it so away it goes…
I mean, obviously, lol. I can’t tell you how many times my husband and i have had a conversation and within 5 minutes Facebook is showing us ads related to that convo.
The issue with the terms and agreements is that its not like you can opt out of some things but not others, so reading through them doesn’t really make a difference if you need the app or want to use the website. It’s not like you can line item veto certain things in that agreement. TUrning off the active listening at the source is probably the best thing we can do overall.
I have stuff like that turned off but I’ve still had a convo with someone about something and get an ad.. I don’t have fb app but I have messenger which I need. However, it reminded me to delete all shopping apps. I absolutely do not need apps on my phone for shopping. So at least they’re gone.
I deleted my Facebook and IG accounts a few months ago. I found that I don’t miss it at all. If I want to share something with friends, I call or text or email them. And I feel happier, tbh. Bye, Zuck.
How can this even be allowed? Should be the opposite, that you actively have to allow it instead of actively remove the active listening. I live in the EU and hope for more laws against stuff like this.
I feel like this should be illegal and this could lead to criminal activity (blackmail, etc).
So Amazon’s response is that they are not partnered with this company? How nice.
I don’t doubt that they are partnered with another that does similar but is better at hiding it.
I wouldn’t trust any of these corporations. Or apps. They generally know too much and demand too much access.
Well color me shocked….NOT! I don’t have any socials on my phone, only my iPad which is off and at home most of the time, have mic turned off on both, etc. but still will occasionally get the ad right after a conversation. Big brother really is watching!
I deleted FB and it was seriously one of the best decisions I ever made. Such a racist boomer MAGA site – and I don’t miss it. Sometimes we leave people in our past for a reason. What I don’t like about it is it sort of forces you to interact with people you don’t really like out of politeness. For a while I was only posting for a small group of friends, but I was still coming across WAY too many ads. Too much Trumpster ignorance and casual racism. I’m over it. I absolutely hated the tag feature where you could be tagged in pics without your consent. It’s a ridiculous feature and you should be able to turn it off as a user.
I just have Instagram now. I tailored it to just countries I want to visit, travel stuff, hotels, certain celebrities I love, marine life, henna, coffee shops, wild animals, and dogs. I turned off all the duck faces, kardashian bullshit, politics, and reality show garbage. I probably spend 10 minutes scrolling on it per day. FB is such a time suck. I am using the extra time on my hands to learn about investing.
I got rid of both of them. They’re both under the Meta umbrella and I was noticing the same ads on both platforms. I don’t miss it either.
Please Be Advised:
Turning off “Active Listening” on your iPhone is a myth. I turn it off as soon as I get a new iphone and it. does. not. matter.
To wit: I was having a conversation one Sunday morning in May with my cousin about a shoe brand that she liked and *literally in the moment* I picked up my phone to check my instagram and it was instantly flooded with ads from this shoe brand. I showed it to my cousin and we were both in disbelief, (because it’s a very *very* niche brand) so I checked to make sure that Active Listening and the microphone was turned off.
It was.
So, I deleted Instagram off my phone and haven’t looked back.
I also spoke to a tech expert who also said that if you don’t want Active Listening, you might as well turn off all your devices and put them in a dedicated drawer – this includes remote controls with voice activation – because that’s used in streaming ads.
God I long for the 90s.
Voila, keep it in a drawer. You don’t need your electronic devices near you at all times, live your life in real time, the end
Unfortunately at this point, if you own a smartphone, your privacy is nothing but an illusion. Do what you can to make yourself feel comfortable, but we got got years ago.
This is one of the reasons why I don’t have FB, Amazon, Twitter, banking, etc on my phone. I keep all of that on my desktop. This goes back to the previous thread about millennials laughing at us olds not using phones for purchasing. Twenty (or more) years ago we were warned about this happening.
How shocking says no one.
This man’s face continues to be his fate for his annoying arrogance and greed.
I have to remember we pick our lives to learn.
I was going to turn off Microphone on my phone, but noticed there’s nothing in “App Clips” for Microphone. I’ve never had FaceBook which sorta become obsolete due to privacy concerns while I’ve dithered whether to join. No reason to have WhatsApp since it’s a cheesy FB implementation of Signal. Don’t really have any other SM type apps. Useful reminder to check though. Turned off ‘Tracking’ while in Settings, even though it’s set up to require permission to ‘ask’ to track.
This has been the case with Whatsapp some eight years ago and they were caught doing it first hand (not via clients) and Oh look.. we fixed it all.. (by outsourcing it).
Ever since I have all social media that I have to use for children school (instagram/Whatsapp/FB/etc) specifically on an old phone that can only access wifi, and does not stay on all the time for this exact reason. This is so gross.