this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2024
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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 GoogleFacebook, 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] 140 points 4 months ago (1 children)

You should read the 404 piece, it's considerably less sensational and doesn't flat lie in the headline. I hate Big Tech too, but this is very bad framing.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 4 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 34 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

it's the link above: https://www.404media.co/heres-the-pitch-deck-for-active-listening-ad-targeting/

A bundle of people say they have a paywall but they don't, they have an AI-bot-wall which can be got around with a free account. I'd recommend it tbh because they are doing very good work.

I pay the yearly subscription to support them as they are very much a rare entity in tech media: independent, reader-supported, and willing to ask difficult questions of tech companies, not fawn over their newest doodads.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

Hmmm...

That looks pretty paywally to me. That said, I'm all for people supporting independent media.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

ah strange, I thought it was just for the above filter - apologies, I guess that's the ignorance you get if you've dropped that $$$.

I can give you the general vibe which is BIG CLAIMS in a presentation followed by every "partner" (Amazon, Google etc.) giving 404 statements that they had nothing to do with this and that it was against their ToS

The piece from noodlejetski: https://lemmy.world/comment/12182781 gives you a previous iteration of this claim

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (7 children)

Critically, "Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft told 404 Media they have no involvement with CMG’s Voice Data tool."

But more importantly, they can't listen on your microphone unless you give them permission. It's not a thing that is technically possible. And like the article says, these days phones even show an indicator to alert you when the microphone is on.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

When it comes to Android, this should be standard. You can block all the bullshit with a few clicks, some apps don't need internet access at all (such as the fucking keyboard, Google).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Obligatory FUTO keyboard recommendation. I liked Swiftkey - but not enough to defend the idea of an online keyboard.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Oh wow. This seems to do exactly what I've been looking for. Works with nordic languages, and with a longtap layer for numbers and symbols, so for my purposes seems perfect at a glance.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The only problem I have with it is that it doesn’t have support for 12-key Japanese input.

Tried it now, it's really great but doesn't have the full pc layout that includes our accursed Č,Ć,Š.Đ diacritics. I'm actually really satisfied with my jugaad solution - downgraded version of gboard, frozen in time and cut off from the internet by Rethink VPN. There's no reason to update it, really, which is lucky since newer versions start randomly lagging if they can't reach google's fucking servers.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

The only problem I have with it is that it doesn't have support for 12-key Japanese input.

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 4 months ago (2 children)

It baffles me that people actually take these assertions seriously, especially after having used different software that uses voice input, like Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa or whatever. Those things make some serious mistakes even under ideal circumstances, and you want me to believe that they can accurately overhear things in non-ideal circumstances? I highly doubt it.

Regardless, you can use an ad blocker to make this a moot point - I've never experienced anything even close to this, because I never get ads.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 4 months ago

No bro one time I was talking about buying protein shakes with my bro and then THE VERY NEXT DAY I saw an ad for protein shakes after watching Joe Rogan on the weightlifting subreddit.

You expect me to believe this is coincidence?!?!?!?!?!

[–] [email protected] 171 points 4 months ago (1 children)

they've claimed the same last year in December, and it turned out they were overselling their capabilities

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/12/no-a-marketing-firm-isnt-tapping-your-device-to-hear-private-conversations/

[–] [email protected] 52 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Some people really will believe anything, as long as you're trash talking big tech. And this platform is particularly bad.

Like hell are they able to just tap into your microphone like that, both Android and I OS have that locked down.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Some people really will believe anything, as long as you're trash talking big tech. And this platform is particularly bad.

Just say something like you should be paying for YouTube (via ads or premium) and brace for the swarm.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (7 children)

I'd pay if they actually offered a better service. But they don't, so I use alternatives that do:

  • Grayjay - sub to more than just YouTube, downloading works as expected, etc
  • Nebula - smaller selection of content, but downloading works as expected

Both of those offer a better experience than YouTube premium (in terms of app features). If YouTube offered a higher quality experience, I'd be more interested in paying for it.

So, I instead just donate to/buy merch from creators I really appreciate and avoid the YouTube app. The only reason Google is involved is because of the network effect, not because they actually provide a good service, so I don't feel bad cheating them out of their ad revenue.

I bailed on Netflix and Disney+, but I refuse to torrent, so I rip DVDs and Blurays to my Jellyfin instance.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Been there, done that. They start yelling about Plex servers and torrents.

I don't want to turn downloading shows into a hobby in it's own right.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Read this post. Disable microphone access on the phone.

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