Facebook Listens to Your Microphone Confirms Social Media Partner Company

Have you ever felt like your phone was eavesdropping on your conversations, serving up eerily relevant ads shortly after discussing a particular product or topic? While suspicions of such practices have long circulated, we now have concrete evidence from a Facebook partner company.

A recent report from 404 Media has shed light on a controversial advertising technology known as “Active Listening.” This software, developed by one of Facebook’s marketing partners, utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze users’ conversations in real-time, extracting valuable “intent data” for targeted advertising.

The report cites leaked documents, including a pitch deck from Cox Media Group (CMG), a prominent television and radio conglomerate. The deck explicitly states that “advertisers can pair this voice data with behavioral data to target in-market consumers.” This revelation confirms long-held fears about the extent to which personal data, including our spoken words, is being collected and exploited for commercial gain.

While Facebook’s involvement with CMG’s controversial software has been brought to light, it appears that Google and Amazon have also been clients of this service.

Following inquiries from 404 Media, Google reportedly removed CMG from its “Partners Program,” suggesting a distancing from the controversial advertising technology.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, has denied utilizing smartphone microphones for targeted advertising, emphasizing that this stance has been their long-standing policy. A Meta spokesperson clarified that CMG was a general partner, not specifically involved in the “Active Listening” program. Meta is reportedly seeking clarification from CMG to ensure that their program does not rely on Meta user data.

Similarly, an Amazon spokesperson stated that the company has no past or present involvement with CMG for advertising purposes.