We’ve all, at some point or another, seen an ad on our phone or television that just happens to be for a product we were just discussing with a friend. For instance, you might tell a friend over lunch that you need a vacation and suddenly get bombarded with travel ads, or mention that you need to find a house painter and get a half-dozen ads for local painting companies. While many have suspected that our phones are listening to us, the consensus among the tech community was that just wasn’t true. Facebook even had to come out and publicly deny it.
As it turns out, some marketing companies might be listening, after all—or at least, they’re claiming to be.
In some of its advertising paperwork to attract new clients, a marketing team at Cox Media Group (CMG) claims it listens to customers through the embedded microphones in their smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices to gather data about those customers and serve them targeted ads, 404 Media reports.
According to a November 28 document written by Cox’s VP of digital strategy, “Yes, our phones are listening to us,” and “CMG has tech capabilities to use to your business advantage.”
The now-removed post has been (thankfully) archived by 404 Media. It claims that it is “legal for phones and devices to listen to you and for third parties to collect that data,” because customers agree to phone listening via the terms of service whenever they purchase a new phone. The use of smart assistants, in particular, means that our devices have to always be listening, the post continues.
It also claims that smart devices use what they hear to create customer profiles, which “is good for both consumers and businesses,” since as a consumer you’ll see fewer irrelevant ads, and businesses can target customers who might enjoy their products. The post then details how CMG would handle a campaign for a business, specifically by creating consumer personas and leveraging AI to tune into relevant conversations and tracking pixels embedded in the business website to track ROI.
The company calls the practice “Active Listening” and claims that it “sounds like something from the future, but we are there!” According to a page describing the process, businesses can set up specific territories where they’re interested in growing their business within 10- or 20-mile radiuses, and then be notified in real-time when someone is in the market for their service.
It’s unclear if CMG’s team actually has the ability to do what it says it can do. Most smartphones come with indicators that alert users when their microphones are being used.
Representatives for CMG did not respond to requests for comment or additional details.