Cox Media has been fined after it boasted it had targeted its mobile users

The most surprising controversy has come back to Cox Media and a number of advertising companies, which say they secretly listen to users of smartphones and smart devices – despite little evidence that they could. Thursday The Federal Trade Commission announced that Cox, MindSift, and 1010 Digital Works will pay $930,000 to settle claims that they are actually lying about spying for advertising.

Like written by Techdirt A few years ago, Cox publicly boasted about a system called Voice Data back in 2023, telling potential digital marketing clients to ensure that “every conversation between two consumers becomes a tool to track, reward, and retain customers.” It compared the technology to the field of Black Mirror and described as the true form of constant rumours, mostly unsubstantiated that social media companies are constantly listening to users through the phone’s microphone. Cox backtracked and denied that he was listening to the conversation, but 404 Media printed more internal stimuli making very similar dystopian claims.

At the time, there were serious doubts that this was actually happening, and the FTC complaint confirms it. “The service did not listen to consumers’ conversations or use words – and the service did not place ads in the places that customers wanted,” it said in a press release. “In fact, the services that the companies offered were reselling – for important mail – emails that were taken from other vendors.” The agency also said the companies lied about whether consumers would opt into the system – even if they did he can spying on people, he says, would still be breaking the law.