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Some mobile games are listening to what children watch
Just in time for the new season of Black Mirror, another report of a company using smartphones to listen in on users has surfaced. The New York Times reported this week that a number of apps are using software produced by a startup called Alphonso and it uses a smartphone's microphone to listen for particular audio signals in TV shows, advertisements and movies. In many cases, Alphonso then has Shazam identify what those audio snippets are and all of the collected data can then be sold to advertisers who can use it to better target their ads.
Advertising's hottest surveillance software is surprisingly legal
You may have heard that the FTC this week sent out a dozen strongly worded letters to apps using the SilverPush framework. The FTC politely told 12 app developers that they needed to let users know that SilverPush was collecting data and selling it to third parties. SilverPush responded two days ago by issuing a statement claiming it no longer uses the "Unique Audio Beacons" (UAB), and has "no active partnership with any US-based developers." Well, if this is true, then perhaps SilverPush should remove UAB as a core product from its website -- and from the heart of its business model, as well.
SilverPush claims its TV monitoring app didn't snoop on you
SilverPush, an Indian firm that made software capable of silently tracking your TV viewing, claims it has no active partnerships with US-based apps. The company found itself under the spotlight last week after the FTC issued warnings to a number of developers apparently using its code. The concern was that if the apps are using this software to monitor TV viewing, and not telling users, the developers would be in violation of FTC regulations. Today, SilverPush issued a statement claiming it no longer uses the "Unique Audio Beacons" (UAB) technology in question, and has no active partnership with any US-based developers anyway. Adding that it considers it "a welcome move the the FTC is taking a stand on user privacy."
FTC issues warning to apps covertly monitoring TV broadcasts
It's like the those skeevy flashlight apps all over again. The Federal Trade Commission has sent out a warning to mobile software developers using the Silverpush framework that their applications could be invading the privacy of unknowing consumers. As Fortune notes, Silverfish and others of its ilk are why some apps that don't do anything in terms of voice transmission ask for permission to access your microphone. This alone sounds a bit creepy, but trust me, it gets even more gross.
