Facebook partner admits smartphone microphones listen to people talk to serve better ads

Update - Meta has provided the following statement in response to the 404 Media report, "Meta does not use your phone's microphone for ads and we've been public about this for years. We are reaching out to CMG to get them to clarify that their program is not based on Meta data" - More information here.

Have you ever been talking about something with someone and then picked up your phone and saw whatever it was you were talking about as an advertisement?

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Sometimes, the timing of tailored advertisements on social media platforms, particularly Meta-operated platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, can be incredibly jarring, especially if there is only a matter of seconds between the conversation ending about that product and then it suddenly appears in the middle of your feed. The consistency of this has begged the question for some time - "Do social media companies use the microphone in your smartphone to listen to conversations that are then used to feed tailor advertisements?"

A new report from 404 Media that cites documents leaked to its reporters reveals "Active Listening" software that, unsurprisingly, uses a form of artificial intelligence to "capture real-time intent data by listening to our conversations". The leaked documents cite a pitch deck from Cox Media Group (CMG), a TV and radio giant that is one of Facebook's alleged marketing partners.

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The pitch deck showcases how CMG uses its "Active Listening" software to capture voice data from a smartphone device that can then be paired with behavioral data on the individual to further hone the targeted advertisements. Notably, CMG stated that Amazon, Facebook, and Google are clients of this "Active Listening" software, and following the publishing of the report from 404 Media, Google has removed CMG from its Partner Program list.

This removal then caused Meta to begin reviewing CMG's partnership with the platform to see if it has violated any of its terms of service.

"We know what you're thinking. Is this even legal? It is legal for phones and devices to listen to you. When a new app download or update prompts consumers with a multi-page term of use agreement somewhere in the fine print, Active Listening is often included," reads a now-deleted Cox blog post from November 2023