Your long-held suspicions have been confirmed, according to a report: Your phone really is listening to you.
A marketing firm whose clients include Facebook and Google has privately admitted to listening to users’ smartphone microphones and then placing ads based on the information it receives, according to 404 Media.
According to the report, Cox Media Group, the TV and radio news conglomerate, admitted to investors that its “Active Listening” software uses artificial intelligence to “capture real-time intent data by listening to our conversations.”
“Advertisers can pair this voice data with behavioral data to target consumers in the market,” the company wrote in the pitch deck.
CMG noted in the deck that consumers “leave a trail of data based on their online conversations and behavior” and that the AI-powered software collects and analyzes “behavioral and voice data from over 470 sources.”
The slideshow includes claims that Facebook, Google and Amazon are CMG clients.
Google removed CMG from its “Partner Program” page after being contacted by 404 Media for comment on the matter.
“All advertisers must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, as well as our Google Ads policies, and when we identify ads or advertisers that violate these policies, we will take appropriate action,” a Google spokesperson told The Post.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, admitted it was reviewing CMG to see if it violated any of its terms of service.
“Meta does not use your phone’s microphone for advertising, and we have been public about this for years,” a Meta spokesperson told The Post.
“We are contacting CMG to get them to clarify that their program is not based on Meta data.”
An Amazon spokesperson told 404 Media that its advertising arm “has never worked with CMG on this program and has no plans to do so.”
The company said it will take action against any partner who violates its rules.
Last December, MindSift, a New Hampshire-based company, boasted that it used voice data to place targeted ads by listening to people’s everyday conversations through microphones on their devices, according to 404 Media.
The report revealed the existence of CMG’s Active Listening feature.
“We know what you’re thinking. Is this even legal?” the company wrote in a since-deleted Cox blog post in November 2023.
“It’s legal for phones and devices to listen in on you. When a new app download or update asks consumers for a multi-page term agreement somewhere in print, Active Listening is often included.”
The Post has sought comment from CMG and Amazon.
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