Cox Media fined for boasting of spying on users via phones
▼ Summary
– Cox Media and two marketing firms settled FTC allegations for $930,000, having claimed they secretly listened to users via devices to target ads without evidence.
– Cox publicly promoted a system called Voice Data in 2023, asserting it could turn casual conversations into ad targeting tools, comparing it to a Black Mirror episode.
– The companies later denied listening to conversations, but internal pitch decks published by 404 Media repeated the same dystopian claims.
– The FTC found the service did not actually listen to conversations or use voice data, instead reselling email lists from other data brokers at a markup.
– The FTC also alleged the companies falsely claimed consumers had opted into the system, meaning they would have broken the law even if the spying were real.
An exceptionally strange saga has finally caught up with Cox Media and two marketing partners, after they publicly claimed to be eavesdropping on users through their phones and smart devices , despite scant evidence that such surveillance was actually happening. On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Cox, MindSift, and 1010 Digital Works would collectively pay $930,000 to settle allegations that they were, in fact, fabricating their spying capabilities to sell targeted ads.
As first detailed by Techdirt a couple of years ago, Cox openly promoted a system called Voice Data back in 2023. In pitches to potential digital marketing clients, the company asserted they could ensure “every casual conversation between two consumers becomes a tool for you to target, retarget, and retain customers.” The marketing material even compared the technology to an episode of Black Mirror, framing it as a real-world version of the persistent, largely unsubstantiated rumor that social media platforms routinely listen to users through phone microphones. Cox later backtracked and denied actually listening to conversations, but 404 Media published multiple internal pitch decks that made essentially the same dystopian claims.
At the time, significant skepticism surrounded whether this was actually happening, and the FTC complaints confirm those doubts were well-founded. “This service did not, in fact, listen in on consumers’ conversations or use voice data at all , nor did the service accurately place ads in customers’ desired locations,” the agency stated in its press release. “Instead, the service the companies provided consisted of reselling , at a significant markup , email lists obtained from other data brokers.” The FTC also alleged that the companies lied about consumers having opted into this system, meaning that even if they could spy on people, they would still have been breaking the law.
(Source: The Verge)
