‘Creepy’ Listening Tool for Targeted Ads Didn’t Actually Work, FTC Says
Key takeaways
- In a statement to WIRED, a spokesperson for CMG says, “We are pleased to have this matter resolved.
- MindSift and 1010 Digital Works did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
- Over the years, conspiracy theories about companies listening to people through their phones in order to serve them ads have been repeatedly debunked.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story The Federal Trade Commission announced on Thursday that Cox Media Group and two other marketing companies, Mind Sift LLC and 1010 Digital Works, have agreed to collectively pay nearly $1 million to settle allegations that they deceived their customers—other businesses—by claiming that they could help target ads based on audio recordings collected from consumers’ smart devices via a marketing service called Active Listening.
In a statement to WIRED, a spokesperson for CMG says, “We are pleased to have this matter resolved. Our local marketing team relied on marketing materials provided to us by a third-party vendor about their product. We withdrew the materials expeditiously and stopped further use of the product.”
MindSift and 1010 Digital Works did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Disclosure: The author of this article previously worked for the FTC.)