You’ve probably already noticed that smartphones hear a lot more than their manufacturers claim they do. Have you ever discussed a new tech product with a colleague only to start seeing ads for that product in apps like Instagram and Facebook? It’s spooky when it happens.
And while people have shared anecdotes like this over the past several years, no one has ever really proven that phones eavesdrop on us like that. Phones aren’t allowed to eavesdrop on us like that… right?
Well, journalists from 404 Media recently found evidence that companies like Amazon and Google do listen in on everything.
The revelatory report centers around Cox Media Group (CMG), which offers a technology called “Active Listening.” This is a tool that records and analyzes all conversations picked up by smartphone microphones and converts them into advertising suggestions.
CMG advertises this service and has already worked with Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft in the past. It’s implied that these companies either …