One advertiser may be able to listen in on you -- if you have an older Android device
Worried that your smart phone is listening to you? A digital marketing group associated with one of the US's biggest cable companies claims to be doing exactly that.
Cox Enterprises
Many of us have had the experience of seeing an ad pop up for a product or service we've only casually mentioned in passing by talking to someone in the room. Ad and tech executives have denied that they spy on consumers, and most experts agree that the legal data collection methods already employed by those businesses help them create uncannily detailed profiles about your personal spending habits, interests, and hobbies.
But that hasn't shaken the sense many of us have that our devices are listening to us -- eavesdropping on our conversations, and surreptitiously feeding advertisers the information.
So what if it were true?
That's apparently the premise behind "Active Listening," a digital marketing effort spearheaded by Cox Media Group. Cox Media operates television and radio stations, a co-venture of private equity firm Apollo Global Management and the multibillion-dollar Cox Enterprises media empire.
Cox Media Group's Local Solutions Group provides a number of digital marketing services for its clients including fairly run-of-the-mill targeted digital advertising, video ads, SEO, and analytics.
"Active Listening" sports the ominously Orwellian tagline, "It's True. Your Devices Are Listening to You."
"With Active Listening, CMG can now use voice data to target your advertising to the EXACT people you are looking for," reads a web page on the company's site, which has since been removed from public view but is still viewable on Web archives.
CMG's Web page for Active Listening says, "It's True. Your Devices Are Listening to You."
Marketing materials from Cox obtained by 404 Media indicate that Cox's tech uses artificial intelligence to detect relevant conversations overheard by smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices. The service in turn purports to deliver advertising to those customers using streaming video and audio, display advertisements, Web search results on services including Google, Bing, and YouTube.
In the information obtained by 404 Media, CMG failed to offer details of how the service works on a technical level, such as what APIs it might be using to do this, or how it would circumvent safety restrictions employed by Apple and others to prevent it from doing so.
But the company does claim that it's legal, mainly because most people blithely ignore and accept the lengthy legalese terms and conditions specified when they update apps on their devices.
Not on Apple's watch -- or iPhone
While it's conceivable that a smart TV or smart speaker might be surreptitiously saddled with such surveillance tech, Apple makes it pretty clear to users when the microphones on their devices are active by popping up an indicator depending on the device to show the mic is active. Short of Pegasus-level spyware usually used to target terrorists, criminals, and enemies of the state, all-Apple users don't have much to worry about, at least when it comes to CMG spying on them.
Apple's protections, of course, do not include the aforementioned smart televisions, Alexa devices, or the like.
For what it's worth, CMG's taken down any mention of Active Listening on their website. With the wagons circling while they ride out this PR storm, we're not optimistic we'll be getting any clarification any time soon.
Updated December 18, 12:07 PM ET
Google reached out to us with a statement about the Active Listening, and protections in modern devices that support September 2020's Android 11 or newer.
"For years, Android has prevented apps from collecting audio when they're not being actively used, and whenever an app activates a device's microphone, there is a prominent icon displayed in the status bar."
Apple has required microphone permission requests by apps that want to use it since iOS 7 was released in 2013. Technically, unupdated iOS devices could still be monitored in such a fashion. Only the original iPad, original iPhone, and iPhone 3G can't be updated to iOS 7.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
https://web.archive.org/web/20231116115055/https://www.cmglocalsolutions.com/cmg-active-listening
This is not the Cox we're familiar with, but instead an off-shoot that was sold off in a separate company sometime back. I think Apollo Group might be the principal owner now.
Oh, and that microphone notification that you say means "not on Apple's watch"? The headline, "if you have an Android phone", is misleading and the author is mistaken. The writer should have looked first and made certain the AI article was accurate before publishing. (BTW, and in the interest of accuracy, Cox Media Group is not an advertiser, They are a marketer, placing ads on behalf of advertisers, and using various ad platforms to do so)
When Android apps use your camera or mic, a green indicator will show at the top right corner of your screen. Swipe down and tap on the indicator. Tap once to check which app or service is using your camera or microphone. So "not on Google's watch" either, with Android offering the same protections as iOS.
Whether iOS or Android, we're advised of microphone (or camera) in use. Now we need to notice it glowing.
Of note, at least one customer of the service was told it uses apps on both Apple and Android app stores, and the permission given would be appropriate for the app. SmartTV's and "other devices" are also mentioned.
I recall a story from a few years ago, which claimed some smartTVs with voice prompts could be somewhat easily accessed to collect voice data. Unless it's my smartphone or OS provider, I ensure voice navigation is turned off everywhere. It's surprising how many electronics, 3rd party speakers and security cams in particular, now want us to opt-in to voice control features. Not happinin' for me.
Edit: I'm correct, Apollo Group, Marc Rowan CEO, is the current primary for CoxMediaGroup.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cox-enterprises-announces-close-of-cox-media-group-sale-to-affiliates-of-apollo-global-management-300976507.html
https://fortune.com/2023/09/22/marc-rowans-apollo-strategy-wall-street-alt-manager/
It is, depending where you are. Even if they put it in the EULA so they can ostensibly claim the phone's owner is aware of it, several states require that both/all parties included in a conversation be aware that they are being recorded. This applies even in public spaces. Laws about recording audio are FAR more restrictive than video, which is why surveillance video is often silent.
Now it's more correct, with both Apple and Google adding microphone notifications with iOS14 and Android 12. Beyond the notification, Android smartphones on 12 or newer won't allow background apps to use either the microphone or camera, and I believe iOS is the same, so even less for us to worry about. Perhaps both were a reaction to hackers trying to listen in?
So that's another nudge for those not bothering to update their smartphones to a more recent firmware, and there's a surprising number of folks who, for whatever reason be it lazy, suspicious, "it's not broken", etc, just don't.