Too relevant online advertisements? Maybe your phone is listening to you.
A leaked pitch deck from Cox Media Group’s (CMG), reveals that it can target advertisements based on nearby smart devices. The deck also shows that Google, Meta, and Amazon were its major partners in this program.
According to a report by 404 Media, the leaked CMG report shows that its now defunct “active listening” software can create real-time intent data by listening to smart devices with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
404 Media reached out to Google regarding the said partnership. After this, Google said that they removed CMG from its Partner Program. Meta, on the other hand, said that it is reviewing its partnership with CMG if it violates any of its terms of service.
Meanwhile, Amazon denied working with CMG on this program. The company added that it has no plans of doing so in the future.
CMG did not disclose how the technology specifically works and how they acquired the alleged voice data.
These types of reports strengthen the suspicion that advertisers listen to our phones. It also brings the question of legality to these types of advertising.
Unfortunately, for now, consumers don’t have that much control of our own data privacy.