if you actually read the article, you’ll find out that the company admitted that they actually don’t do that and they’ve exaggerated their claims.
Marketer sparks panic with claims it uses smart devices to eavesdrop on people
Submitted 11 months ago by nave@lemmy.zip to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
noodlejetski@lemm.ee 11 months ago
RaoulDook@lemmy.world 11 months ago
That’s what you call Damage Control. They are backpedaling after saying the quiet part out loud.
shasta@lemm.ee 11 months ago
No, they were lying because it would increase their value as a marketer for their clients. It was really stupid to lie about something so easily disproven. Anyone with a packet sniffer can tell there’s not a bunch of random audio being transmitted from their device for no reason. I’m more inclined to believe some idiot in their PR team just doesn’t know wtf they’re talking about and made up something on the spot.
jordanlund@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Marketers would literally kill for this kind of tech, especially in real time, but it doesn’t exist quite yet.
What they CAN do with existing tech is scary enough (11, almost 12 years ago now):
foggy@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Lol again? I’m:
“guys google assistant isn’t always listening lol it only wakes up on the trigger word. you people know nothing about IT or how good marketers are at guessing” -10,000,000 neckbeards for the last decade, despite everyone’s obvious anecdotal experiences that are just too bullshit to ignore.
Did it really take them admitting it for a publication to talk about it?
This exact post did quite poorly a few days ago. Let’s see how it does with this article.
autotldr@lemmings.world [bot] 11 months ago
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But a marketing company called CMG Local Solutions sparked panic recently by alluding that it has access to people’s private conversations by tapping into data gathered by the microphones on their phones, TVs, and other personal electronics, as first reported by 404 Media on Thursday.
A November 28 blog post described Active Listening technology as using AI to “detect relevant conversations via smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices.”
This is a world where no pre-purchase murmurs go unanalyzed, and the whispers of consumers become a tool for you to target, retarget, and conquer your local market.
The website previously pointed to CMG uploading past client data into its platform to make “buyer personas.”
The archived version of the page discussed an AI-based analysis of the data and generating an “encrypted evergreen audience list” used to re-target ads on various platforms, including streaming TV and audio, display ads, paid social media, YouTube, Google, and Bing Search.
Before Cox Media Group sent its statement, though, CMG’s claims of collecting data on “casual conversations in real-time,” as its blog stated, were questionable.
The original article contains 711 words, the summary contains 179 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Unlocalhost@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Doesn’t surprise me. Marketers are always wanting to know how much we would recommend x product to a friend or family. Like I just organically discuss x in this way.
Mojojojo1993@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Don’t they all. They have to record it to be able to complete the demand. We know google listens to us as it serves up ads that we haven’t searches. Same for every listening device.
I forget but sane smart fridge got in trouble for recording conversations and having backlogs of data. Anything with a mic is likely recording data and sending it to analyst.
kakes@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
While I wouldn’t put it past any company to do this, the theory is that you have a “wake word” that is listened for locally (ie, “Hey Google” etc).
Then, once that triggers locally, then any audio after that point is recorded and delivered to our corporate overlords.
That said, how well this works in practice, or how different companies handle this may vary.
Chozo@kbin.social 11 months ago
Aside from situations involving false positive detections of wake words, there aren't other situations in which these devices are "listening". Watchdog groups have been eyeing these devices for years now, and there haven't been any confirmed cases of these things spying on their owners.
radix@lemmy.world 11 months ago