Many of us have experienced that strange feeling when, after talking with friends or family, we suddenly see an advertisement for the product we were just talking about.You talk about an exotic vacation, say in the Maldives, and the next day you are bombarded with vacation offers or articles on the topic on social media.Is this coincidence coincidental or are our conversations really being monitored?.
According to the Daily Mail magazine, there may be something more behind this strange situation.Tech giants such as Facebook and Google are said to be able to eavesdrop on our communications through smart devices.This information is said to be confirmed by a leaked document from Cox Media Group (CMG), which deals with a technology known as «active-listening» – active listening.
How does it work?
The paper suggests that tech companies can use artificial intelligence software that can analyze our words in real time to create targeted advertising campaigns.This data can then be linked to our online behavior, allowing advertisers to target ads even more precisely.While such eavesdropping may seem disturbing, there is no direct evidence that companies are actively using this technology.
Legal or unethical?
The leaked documents suggest that the Active Listening software may work continuously or only during certain situations, such as when the device’s microphone is active.According to CMG, the use of this technology is legal because users often accept terms of use when installing apps, which may include permission for such activities.
However, this is not the first time that CMG has faced allegations of unethical practices.As early as 2023, this software was exposed, which raised a lot of privacy questions.Despite this, the company does not respond to media inquiries for a long time.
The future of our conversations
The question of whether tech companies are actually eavesdropping on us remains unanswered.Although technologies enabling such a practice exist, there is no direct confirmation that they are being actively used.However, for users, this means increased caution when sharing personal information via smart devices.With the growing importance of the digital world, we should consider more carefully what rights we grant to the applications and services we use every day.
