Is the confidentiality of our telephone conversations always guaranteed? This is a question that many of us ask ourselves… Here is what an American investigation reveals that will cause a stir.
We have all at one time or another had the unpleasant feeling of being listened to during our telephone conversations and of being offered advertisements shortly afterwards related to the content of our conversations. This is the case of Emma, a young mother who after asking her mother questions about the best way to get around with her little boy, received advertisements for baby carriers on her mobile! If this doubt concerning the confidentiality of our exchanges is sometimes linked to a form of paranoia in a hyperconnected world, it is perhaps also completely legitimate!
According to 404 Media, Cox Media Group, a marketing agency whose clients include Facebook, Instagram and Google, has in fact unofficially acknowledged in an internal document that it was working on a project dedicated to a feature called Active Listening “in order to target consumers” and in particular to encourage them to buy products. This feature would consist of using smartphone microphones to identify keywords in telephone conversations in order to determine the interests and purchasing intentions of their users.
A method that has been criticized to say the least and which, even if it is still in the project stage, has pushed web giants like Google to end their collaboration with Cox Media Group (CMG) “Advertisers must comply with existing laws and regulations as well as our Google Ads policies. When we identify ads or advertisers that violate these policies, we take appropriate action. “, a Google spokesperson told New York Post. Meta also reacted firmly.Meta does not use phone microphones to serve ads and we have been saying this for years“, hammered a representative to the American media.
This is not the first time that the famous active listening feature has been singled out. Last December, an investigation by 404 media revealed that MindSift, a small company based in New Hampshire in the United States, had boasted in a podcast about using this famous active listening feature. According to its founders, this practice was even legal!When a new app download or update prompts consumers to sign a user agreement, active listening is often included. “, they wrote on a blog that has since been deleted. Even if the big companies promise never to have used it, it is therefore a safe bet that this controversy is not about to die down!