After a conversation with friends, advertisements suddenly pop up on the very topics you were discussing. Many people suspect that smartphones are listening in on private conversations. But does active listening on smartphones really work?
The fact that active listening technology actually exists has always been officially denied. Our location data and surfing behavior are already enough information for tailored advertising. However, documents from a large US advertising company are now set to prove the opposite.
What is active listening?
Whether the technology actually works as assumed remains controversial. Companies such as Google and Meta deny that the microphones are continuously activated and evaluate user conversations.
Revelations at the Cox Media Group
At the end of august, 404 Media published a presentation by the Cox Media Group (CMG), which has partnerships with companies such as Meta, Amazon and Google. These documents advertise the company’s active listening service. CMG claims to play out suitable advertising based on the content of conversations. The tool is said to be able to access the microphones of smartphones and listen in on conversations.
The bombshell followed immediately: Google removed CMG from its advertising partner program. CMG, on the other hand, denies this and refers to only using data that users have clearly consented to.
Data security & legal situation
The possibilities offered by active listening are impressive. Nevertheless, it raises legitimate concerns about the protection of privacy. There are strict legal requirements, especially in Europe. Based on data protection laws such as the GDPR and the EU AI Act, which came into force in August 2024, active listening technology is unlikely to pass as a legal practice. In the USA, however, the legal situation is less clear. The use of eavesdropping technologies without the express consent of the user is often in a gray area.
This creates a great deal of ambiguity – especially because the use of active listening technology is not disclosed and is also disputed. It therefore remains questionable whether and to what extent these practices are being used and how they are developing.
Transparency in AI technologies
In the midst of this debate, it is clear how important it is to use data responsibly. At LinkThat, we have made it a priority to meet the highest standards and protect all data that is processed. For example, it is strictly anonymized and not stored to ensure maximum security.
With LinkThat ECCO, our AI for voice channels and telephony, we adhere to strict guidelines. ECCO is used as live support for customer dialogs in the contact center. The conversation is recorded and transcribed in real time, but not automatically saved. The automatic summary of the conversation content is anonymized and the live transcript is then deleted. This also ensures that the audio recordings do not have to be saved for further quality assurance. This saves space and the sensitive data is secure.
Technology with responsibility
Technologies such as active listening open up many opportunities and future potential. Nevertheless, the focus must be on responsibility and the careful use of data. At LinkThat, we are committed to being innovative as well as complying with ethical and legal requirements. For us, trust is only created through transparency and a sense of responsibility.