A marketing team within media giant Cox Media Group (CMG) claims it has the capability to listen to ambient conversations of consumers through embedded microphones in smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices to gather data and use it to target ads, according to a review of CMG marketing materials by 404 Media and details from a pitch given to an outside marketing professional. Called “Active Listening,” CMG claims the capability can identify potential customers “based on casual conversations in real time.”
Which brands have this technology? I need to know which devices to douse with lighter fluid.
That is not clear yet. But wouldn’t be surprised if a large number of them fits the bill.
It’s in a lot of item’s TOS. I’ve started finding the TOS online before I buy things. I also try not to have any “smart” items, but that’s getting harder to do with IOT.
People freak out about this but I’m a marketer, and it’s not as bad as people think.
You’re a data point in a database with millions of other data points, and all targeting towards you is automated through tagging. No one is specifically looking at you or specifically listening to you. It’s not even coded and stored in ways that can be consumed as images or sound.
For the record, I don’t work with this tech. I just know how it works, and where I don’t necessarily agree with it, I also don’t care because of how I know it works.
This is bad and remains an invasion of our privacy. There is no justification for snooping on unsuspecting individuals. And you need to consider the fact that ads and marketing are not just for bathing soaps or toothpastes, they are also used at large scale by political actors. Such intimate levels of data can easily be weaponised and used for social engineering both by corporate and non-corporate entities.
