631 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 27 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H4'ed 9/4/24

There's Nothing Really New About "Active Listening"

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   1 comment

Thomas Knapp
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Thomas Knapp

Henri Adolphe Laissement Kardin%C3%A4le im Vorzimmer 1895.
Henri Adolphe Laissement Kardin%C3%A4le im Vorzimmer 1895.
(Image by Wikipedia (commons.wikimedia.org), Author: Author Not Given)
  Details   Source   DMCA

How many times have you casually mentioned buying, say, new curtains to your spouse, then found yourself bombarded with ads for window treatments the next time you opened a new browser tab on your computer?

How many times has that kind of thing left you assuming that your phone, smart speaker, etc. are listening in on your conversations and adding relevant material to advertising databases?

Advertising platforms always deny it, and maybe -- MAYBE -- they've been technically honest in denying it. But there's no doubt they track you in various ways, from browser history to phone location, and that they use the data they gather to target advertising at you.

If your phone notices you visited Home Depot or Lowe's and your browser history shows you looking at gazebo plans, you'll probably start seeing ads for tools and building materials shortly thereafter.

Now we have evidence of actual eavesdropping on your conversations.

Last year, Cox Media Group admitted -- nay, promoted" -- its "Active Listening" technology in a since-deleted blog post: "Imagine ... 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."

Last month, 404 Media reported (in a paywalled article) on a CMG "pitch deck" further promoting the technology and claiming major partnerships with Facebook, Google, and other major firms to deploy it. The unconvincing responses from those major firms range from outright denial to promised "investigations."

If that technology really is just now rolling out for advertisers, my only question is why it took so long.

We know, courtesy of exiled whistleblower Edward Snowden, that the US government possesses those kinds of capabilities -- the NSA calls it "Google for Voice" -- and has been using them on us for decades. Once the "private sector" knows a thing CAN be done, it figures out how to do that thing in profitable ways.

Here's the part where most writers start bemoaning our loss of privacy and suggesting ways to get it back.

OK, fine ... I bemoan our loss of privacy. Happy?

As for getting it back, nothing short of full global reversion to a pre-computer level of technology would suffice.

Am I happy that Bing knows I'm very interested in motorcycles at the moment and keeps showing me ads and stories about them?

Yes, kind of. It's a little creepy, but also very useful.

Am I concerned that this level of data-gathering will produce terrible outcomes?

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Thomas Knapp Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Thomas L. Knapp is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.


Related Topic(s): Privacy, Add Tags
Add to My Group(s)
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter

Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Big Question About the UN Security Council's Gaza Ceasefire Resolution

2020: I'm So Sick of Superlatives

America Doesn't Have Presidential Debates, But It Should

Hypocrisy Alert: Republicans Agreed with Ocasio-Cortez Until About One Minute Ago

Chickenhawk Donald: A Complete and Total Disgrace

The Nunes Memo Only Partially "Vindicates" Trump, But it Fully Indicts the FBI and the FISA Court

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend