Leaked Pitch from a Marketing Agency Reveals Use of ‘Active Listening’ Software to Eavesdrop and Push Targeted Ads on Social Media

Have you ever inquired about a particular topic while conversing with your spouse, friends, or family, only to discover the next thing is that it has been recommended on your social media feeds?

Well, don’t be surprised! It has been happening to almost everyone. The recently leaked pitch from a marketing agency revealed that someone is paying attention to our conversations or, worse, keeping tabs on everything we say, do, or search.

A secret document shows that a marketing firm listens to calls and sends targeted ads on Facebook and Google. Your phone voice data is not secure at all, and agencies like Google exchange your data with other companies.

A list featuring Facebook, Google, and Amazon as clients of its “Active Listening” service was revealed in the pitch deck. 

The media group has been removed from the partner’s program by Google, which may indicate that it has severed ties with the agency, according to 404 Media.

This triggered a repercussion, prompting Meta to conduct an inquiry and scrutinize the agency’s terms of service to ascertain whether it has been utilizing users’ data without their consent, contravening their partnership agreement.

According to the pitch deck:

“Advertisers can pair this voice data with behavioral data to target in-market consumers.”

Amazon refuted the claims and said that it doesn’t know about the marketing agency’s privacy problems and doesn’t plan to use its services from now on. The company issued a warning that it would initiate legal proceedings if one of its partners had violated its terms of service.