FTC Issues Warning to Apps Covertly Monitoring TV Broadcasts
The FTC alleges that some unnamed app developers are using this tech to monitor the TV shows you’re watching. Those warning letters (PDF) mention that the apps “would be capable of producing a detailed log of the television content viewed while a user’s mobile device was turned on for the purpose of targeted advertising software and analytics.” Told you it got worse.
In case you’re unfamiliar (which is totally understandable), Silverpush is a company that uses your device’s microphone to listen for ultrasonic sounds to identify when the same person is using multiple devices like a laptop and a smartphone or tablet. This ties the two separate gadgets to the same person and creates a more comprehensive advertising profile based on his or her habits. It’s baked into the back-end of messaging app Line and presumably a whole slew of others. Apparently, it can pick up the inaudible audio beacons from TV broadcasts as well.
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