Marketer that claimed it could tap devices for ad targeting will pay $880K settlement

Ars Technica News
ftc-settlement false-claims ad-targeting privacy marketing cox-media-group ai

Summary

Cox Media Group (CMG) agreed to pay $880,000 to settle FTC allegations that it falsely advertised an AI-powered 'Active Listening' service that supposedly listened to consumers' devices for ad targeting, when in fact it did not use voice data at all.

<p>In November 2023, we reported on <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/12/no-a-marketing-firm-isnt-tapping-your-device-to-hear-private-conversations/">dubious claims</a> made by marketing firm Cox Media Group (CMG) Local Solutions. The company advertised a service called Active Listening on <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230923075217/https://www.cmglocalsolutions.com/cmg-active-listening">a website</a> that said, “It’s true. Your devices are listening to you” and claimed it could use “voice data” to help advertisers target ads to specific people.</p> <p>Naturally, <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2023/12/15/yes-right-smartphone-really-listening-19980334/">panic ensued</a>. <a href="https://www.404media.co/cmg-cox-media-actually-listening-to-phones-smartspeakers-for-ads-marketing/">404 Media</a>, which initially spotted the website, for instance, wrote that the idea of smartphones listening to people to sell products “may finally be a reality."</p> <figure class="ars-img-shortcode id-1991581 align-center"> <div> <div class="ars-lightbox"> <div class="ars-lightbox-item"> <a class="cursor-zoom-in" data-pswp-width="1440" data-pswp-height="1004" data-pswp-srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-300x209.jpg 300w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-640x446.jpg 640w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-768x536.jpg 768w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-1536x1071.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-2048x1428.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-980x683.jpg 980w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-1440x1004.jpg 1440w" data-cropped="true" href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-1440x1004.jpg" target="_blank"> <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="2488" height="1735" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115.jpg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="CMG Local Solutions screenshot" srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115.jpg 2488w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-300x209.jpg 300w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-640x446.jpg 640w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-768x536.jpg 768w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-1536x1071.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-2048x1428.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-980x683.jpg 980w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-1440x1004.jpg 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 2488px) 100vw, 2488px"> </a> <div class="pswp-caption-content" id="caption-1991581"> A screenshot taken in 2023 from a webpage that CMG has since removed. <div class="ars-gallery-caption-credit"> Credit: <a href="https://www.cmglocalsolutions.com/cmg-active-listening" target="_blank">Ars Technica via CMG Local Solutions</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>The idea of a marketing firm using AI to “detect relevant conversations via smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices” in real time—according to a since-deleted CMG blog post from November 2023 (still viewable via the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231215223746/https:/www.cmglocalsolutions.com/blog/active-listening-an-overview">Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine</a>)—has raised alarms.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/marketer-that-claimed-it-could-tap-devices-for-ad-targeting-will-pay-880k-settlement/">Read full article</a></p> <p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/marketer-that-claimed-it-could-tap-devices-for-ad-targeting-will-pay-880k-settlement/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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# Marketer that claimed it could tap devices for ad targeting will pay $880K settlement Source: [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/marketer-that-claimed-it-could-tap-devices-for-ad-targeting-will-pay-880k-settlement/](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/05/marketer-that-claimed-it-could-tap-devices-for-ad-targeting-will-pay-880k-settlement/) In November 2023, we reported on[dubious claims](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/12/no-a-marketing-firm-isnt-tapping-your-device-to-hear-private-conversations/)made by marketing firm Cox Media Group \(CMG\) Local Solutions\. The company advertised a service called Active Listening on[a website](https://web.archive.org/web/20230923075217/https://www.cmglocalsolutions.com/cmg-active-listening)that said, “It’s true\. Your devices are listening to you” and claimed it could use “voice data” to help advertisers target ads to specific people\. Naturally,[panic ensued](https://metro.co.uk/2023/12/15/yes-right-smartphone-really-listening-19980334/)\.[404 Media](https://www.404media.co/cmg-cox-media-actually-listening-to-phones-smartspeakers-for-ads-marketing/), which initially spotted the website, for instance, wrote that the idea of smartphones listening to people to sell products “may finally be a reality\.” [![CMG Local Solutions screenshot](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115.jpg)](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Screenshot-2023-12-15-162115-1440x1004.jpg) A screenshot taken in 2023 from a webpage that CMG has since removed\. A screenshot taken in 2023 from a webpage that CMG has since removed\.Credit:[Ars Technica via CMG Local Solutions](https://www.cmglocalsolutions.com/cmg-active-listening) The idea of a marketing firm using AI to “detect relevant conversations via smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices” in real time—according to a since\-deleted CMG blog post from November 2023 \(still viewable via the[Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine](https://web.archive.org/web/20231215223746/https:/www.cmglocalsolutions.com/blog/active-listening-an-overview)\)—has raised alarms\. But it was also apparent that CMG’s claims were unlikely to be true\. The company never explained how it could[remotely](https://www.wired.com/story/hackers-turn-amazon-echo-into-spy-bug/)extract enough computing and networking power from users’[devices](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/08/how-hackers-could-turn-an-amazon-echo-into-a-secret-bugging-device/)to clandestinely capture and send voice recordings in “real\-time” or obtain more intimate access to people’s homes than law enforcement can without a warrant\. This week, the Federal Trade Commission \(FTC\) announced that CMG will pay $880,000 to settle the FTC’s[allegations](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/CMGComplaintwithoutsignatures.pdf)that CMG “falsely” claimed “to offer an AI\-powered service that could target localized ads based on conversations captured from consumers’ smart devices and that consumers had opted into such targeting\.” The money will go to affected customers, the FTC said\. The FTC’s announcement reads: > According to the \[FTC\-filed\] complaints, 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\. Instead, the service the companies provided consisted of reselling—at a significant markup—email lists obtained from other data brokers\. After working with CMG, two marketing firms, Wisconsin\-based[1010 Digital Works LLC](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/1010digitalworksllccomplaintwithoutsignatures.pdf)and New Hampshire\-based[MindSift LLC](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Mindsift-Complaint-withoutsignatures.pdf), will each pay $25,000 settlements\. In its since\-deleted blog from 2023, CMG claimed that Active Listening relied on an unnamed CMG partner that had a “growing ability to access microphone data on devices\.” But when we first covered Active Listening, a company spokesperson admitted to Ars that CMG did not “listen to any conversations or have access to anything beyond a third\-party aggregated, anonymized, and fully encrypted data set that can be used for ad placement\.”

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