this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2023
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How marketing companies use "Active listening" voice data to target advertising to the EXACT people businesses are looking for (lemm.ee)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Denatured@lemm.ee to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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This just blows my mind and makes me feel sick to my stomach that such company's like CMG Local Solutions ~~do this sort of thing~~ even exist! ๐Ÿคข๐Ÿคฎ

Note: I did not want to use the 'URL' field in this post to add a direct link to this company as they use a pixel tracker (see post title). I don not recommend you visit it. Instead, I'll quote them here:

It's True. Your Devices Are Listening to You. With Active Listening, CMG can now use voice data to target your advertising to the EXACT people you are looking for.

magine This... What could it do for your business, if you were able to target potential clients or customers who are using terms like this in their day to day conversations:

The car lease ends in a month- we need a plan. We need to get serious about planning for retirement. A mini van would be perfect for us. This AC is on it's last leg! Do I see mold on the ceiling? We need a better mortgage rate.

Active Listening can make that happen for you! We know this sounds like something from the future, but we are there! We can customize your campaign to listen for any keywords/targets relevant to your business. Here is how we do it:

Create Personas We create buyer personas by uploading past client data into the platform.

Identify Keywords We identify top performing keywords relative to the type of customer you are looking for.

Tracking We set up tracking via pixel placed on your site, so we can track your ROI in real time.

Listening Active Listening begins and is analyzed via AI to detect pertinent conversations via smartphones, smart tvs and other devices.

Analysis As qualified consumers are detected, a 360 analysis via AI on past behaviors of each potential customer occurs.

Create a List With the audience information gathered, an encrypted evergreen audience list is created.

Re-targeting We use the list to target your advertising via many different platforms and tactics including:

  • Streaming TV/OTT
  • Streaming Audio
  • Display Ads
  • Paid Social Media
  • YouTube
  • Mobile Precise
  • Google/Bing Search (PPC)

Claim Your Exclusive Territory Before Your Competitor Our technology provides a process that makes it possible to know exactly when someone is in the market for your services in real-time, giving you a significant advantage over your competitors. Territories are available in 10 or 20 mile radiuses, but customizations can be made for regional, state and national coverage.

Here's the best part! ๐Ÿคฅ

We know what you are thinking... Is this legal? YES- it is totally legal for phones and devices to listen to you. That's because consumers usually give consent when accepting terms and conditions of software updates or app downloads

Is it just me or does the world feel more and more everyday like a dystopian nightmare, a bad joke, satire? Ahhhh!

What's your thoughts on this?

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[โ€“] kromem@lemmy.world 83 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

This is BS. It's a 3rd rate marketing group trying to game SEO for lead gen.

Go ahead and contact them, claiming to be a prospective client with a few hundred (insert niche retail or service here) stores and that you're interested in their product.

At best they'll end up revealing they have a SDK or some crap to do the active listening in your own app if you have one.

If this were real, more than this company would be doing it, and you'd see actual case studies around it.

Also, it's 1000% not legal in half the US states given two party consent wiretapping laws unless the users are agreeing to it in some way, which again brings us back to that at best this is some shoddy SDK (and unlikely even that).

Edit: Looking at it closer and given the way it isn't linked at all from elsewhere and is a one off mention of the services, I'm actually wondering if this was an April Fool's page that they just never took down. It's pretty funny if that, especially given the ridiculousness of a lot of the buzz word heavy language in the bullet points. Like the idea that they are actively listening to the voice data and then having AI analyze the purchase history of the users to then cross attribute ROI using your "tracking pixel" is hilarious.

Even just one of those steps is such a pie in the sky claim even for most billion dollar agencies.

[โ€“] LWD@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

deleted

[โ€“] MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Also, it's 1000% not legal in half the US states given two party consent wiretapping laws unless the users are agreeing to it in some way, which again brings us back to that at best this is some shoddy SDK

You are talking about advertising business, you know? They do business as long and as far as it isn't yet illegal.

At least tracking via ultrasonic is a thing. calculator/game just needs to have the respective library.

Btw, store chains use Wifi/Bt for tracking, just so you know.

[โ€“] CameronDev@programming.dev 36 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Almost every OS nowadays has some form of microphone detection right? So if this was on, you would be aware of it? And to jump ahead, even google is incentivised to prevent this company listening in, as they are direct competitor.

I wonder if this company is just trying to fleece advertisers with a made up tech? The "Claim your exclusive territory before your competitor" feels like the high pressure tactics that other scams use?

I might go disable the microphone in my TV remote anyway :/

[โ€“] PupBiru@kbin.social 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

OSes have protections built in, yup, but thatโ€™s no guarantee. we like hardware switches because thereโ€™s physically no way that the mic/cam can be in use: software is always 1 bug or exploit away from not doing what itโ€™s supposed to

[โ€“] CameronDev@programming.dev 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yup, for sure, but while a nation state can risk exploitting a zero day to turn on your microphone, an ad tech company certainly can't. As soon as it get patched they'd be ruined.

[โ€“] cobra89@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lol you are the only person with a brain in this thread. This entire service they're advertising sounds like a scam.

People really think these apps are bypassing the Android OS protections that show the microphone icon when the mic is listening?

And what apps are widespread enough that it can capture a wide enough range of people to target the things their customers would want while also not getting discovered or someone working for the app disclosing it?

None of this passes the sniff test.

[โ€“] PupBiru@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

hey i never said that i believe itโ€ฆ youโ€™re right it sounds like BS, or more likely as someone said: sounds like an april fools page that got left up

but itโ€™s good to be wary of software in general, and to know its limitations

[โ€“] drwho@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Minimal risk for them. The state of monitoring as a whole is such that they can use such an 0-day for a couple of years before anybody notices it. It's far more likely that the vulnerability is noticed and patched without anyone even realizing that it's been actively exploited.

[โ€“] CameronDev@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago

They are literally publically claiming that they have a zero day (or at least a zero day level capability). Google/Apple would be all over it trying to fix it. Cyber security researchers would be all over it as well.

NSA can get away with using 0 days for years because they keep quiet about them, and dont use them frivilously.

[โ€“] Deckweiss@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

pinephone!

[โ€“] MonkderZweite@feddit.ch 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Except if the biggest advertiser has a set of background services with basically root access on your phone running...

[โ€“] CameronDev@programming.dev 8 points 1 year ago

Oh, absolutely. Google/apple/MS definitely could do this. But some no-name company? Not really.

[โ€“] Argongas@kbin.social 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm so skeptical of companies, that I almost instinctively distrust any company which directly advertises to me. I would be doubly so if that ad came soon after discussing a need.

[โ€“] drwho@beehaw.org 8 points 1 year ago

You (and I) are unfortunately part of the small fraction of a percentage point that think and are inclined to act this way.

[โ€“] miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

One of the reasons why I like my desktop PC so much is that both webcam and mic sit in a drawer and are only plugged in for when I actually need to use them.

Android at least has the setting in developer options to disable sensors, which includes gyroscope, camera, mic and gps, I believe.

But core system services still have permission to override this setting. Which makes sense, you don't want your dialer app to break when calling emergency services.

But it does make me think, is Androids' sandboxing of an app enough to prevent it from abusing this possibility?

[โ€“] DannyMac@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

I don't understand where they're getting their data from and what phones are doing this.

[โ€“] privacybro@lemmy.ninja 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

dont run stock android. solved.

[โ€“] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I briefly used it a while back and it was nothing but pain. Constant notifications and popups everywhere

[โ€“] privacybro@lemmy.ninja 1 points 1 year ago

yeah how do most people even tolerate it? I'd go insane.

[โ€“] ErwinLottemann@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

notifications and popups as in 'unwanted ads' or did you just get a lot of textmessages?

[โ€“] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lots of things prompting me to do things.

[โ€“] ErwinLottemann@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

like 'finish setting up your phone'? there should not be many of them and they usualy just pop up once. ๐Ÿ˜

[โ€“] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 year ago

Why would I need to "finish setting up my device" I don't want all the google bloatware. I get my apps off of F-droid.

[โ€“] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My phone is not rootable :( I need a privilege escalation exploit for my Motorola moto z3 android 9 phone

[โ€“] privacybro@lemmy.ninja 0 points 1 year ago

That's kind of funny, to be honest