Is your phone really listening to you?

Have you ever felt like the ads on Facebook or Instagram somehow know what you’re thinking? For example, you’ve just talked to a friend about wanting to buy a new pair of shoes, and suddenly, a shoe ad appears. It makes you wonder if your phone is eavesdropping on you.

How does advertising read your mind?

What makes ads ‘read your mind’ is your digital footprint—the data you leave behind every time you use the internet.

Google searches
Liking or sharing posts, or interacting with feeds on Facebook
Visiting websites
Data from applications you sign into with your Google or Facebook account
Preferences of close friends on social media, who may like activities similar to yours
Locations you’ve passed through or locations your friends have passed through

Examples that make you misunderstand that ‘your phone is secretly listening to you’

You talk about buying a new car, and coincidentally, you’ve previously searched for car information or visited car websites. As a result, the system then immediately shows you an ad.
Sometimes, your connected friends may show interest in that topic. The system might think you’re interested in it too.

Machine learning technology and smart advertising system

The system will analyze your behavior. For example, if you search for ‘hotels near the beach’ or ‘Hua Hin tours,’ the system will recognize your interest in beach travel. It will then display related ads. Even if you haven’t searched for those things, many of your close friends have, and you happen to cross paths with them. The system assumes you’re interested and displays ads.

According to news from overseas, your phone is really listening to you

You may have heard about technology that eavesdrops on your conversations to show targeted ads. One of the most talked-about topics is a program called ‘Active Listening.’ It was revealed in a slide deck from Cox Media Group (CMG).

What is Active Listening?

Active listening claims to use a smartphone’s microphone to listen to conversations in your surroundings. It performs the following steps:

Analyze your voice to determine what you’re talking about
Integrate the data with your online behavior
Display the most appropriate ads for you

CMG also claims to have collaborated with major companies such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google to leverage this technology. This raises concerns about whether it is really ‘eavesdropping’ on you.

Facts about active listening

Despite these claims, Facebook and Google have denied using active listening technology to eavesdrop on users’ conversations. They insist that all advertising data is obtained from online activities. This includes searches, likes, and website visits, not from listening to conversations.

Until now, there has been no clear evidence that active listening is actually used or that it can listen to users’ conversations as claimed. Major tech companies have also denied any involvement in this technology.