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Google & Facebook partner admits it can listen to device microphone to serve ads - Dexerto (www.dexerto.com)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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A media firm that has worked with the likes of Google and Meta has admitted that it can target adverts based on what you said out loud near device microphones.

Media conglomerate Cox Media Group (CMG) has been pitching tech companies on a new targeted advertising tool that uses audio recordings collected from smart home devices, according to a 404 Media investigation. The company is partners with Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Bing.

In a pitch deck presented to Google, Facebook, and others in November 2023, CMG referred to the technology used for monitoring and active listening as “Voice Data.” The firm also mentioned using artificial intelligence to collect data about consumers’ online behavior.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

For Google's devices, the sound is still available as an accessibility feature. It's now off by default, which I agree it should not be. But you can turn it back on, I have it on all my devices, they all still make that sound after recognizing "hey Google " either as a true or false positive.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It was disabled even in accessibility mode in the last major update on my last phone (Pixel 8) I haven't tried it on the Pixel 9 but I doubt I'll have better luck.