Since the start of targeted advertising on websites and social media, there have been many theories circulating that claim smartphones and other gadgets, including tablets and laptops, actively listen to users’ conversations in order to offer personalised ads. Now, a new report has validated these long-standing suspicions.

According to 404 Media, Cox Media Group, a marketing firm whose clients include Facebook and Google, has privately admitted that it listens to users’ smartphone microphones and then places ads based on the information that is picked up. The television and radio news conglomerate admitted in a pitch deck to investors that its “Active Listening” software uses artificial intelligence to “capture real-time intent data by listening to our conversations.”

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“Advertisers can pair this voice data with behavioural data to target in-market consumers,” the company wrote in the pitch deck.

“Consumers leave a data trail based on their conversations and online behaviour,” and that the AI-powered software collects and analyses said “behavioural and voice data from 470+ sources,” CMG noted in the deck.

Google removed CMG from its “Partners Program” website after it was contacted by 404 Media to comment on the matter.

“All advertisers must comply with all applicable laws and regulations as well as our Google Ads policies, and when we identify ads or advertisers that violate these policies, we will take appropriate action,” a Google spokesperson told The Post.

Brussels, Belgium:

The European Data Protection Board said Wednesday it had adopted a binding decision that will result in Facebook and Instagram owner Meta being banned from using the personal data of users for targeted advertisements.

The order will “impose a ban on the processing of personal data for behavioural advertising on the legal bases of contract and legitimate interest across the entire European Economic Area,” the EDPB said in a statement posted on its website.

The EDPD said it took the decision following a request from Norway’s data regulator, which earlier this year imposed a ban on sending Facebook and Instagram users targeted advertisements based on their personal data which the social media platform collects without their explicit consent.

The EDPB decision forces Ireland’s data regulator, which has authority over Meta’s operations in Europe, to take final measures on the issue within two weeks, with a ban to enter force a week later.

The statement said Meta was informed Tuesday of the EDPB’s decision and indicated that it plans to ask for consent to use personal data to target ads that users see when they use the apps.

“The EDPB takes note of Meta’s proposal to rely on a consent based approach as legal basis” and said this was being evaluated.

Facebook had some 300 million daily users in Europe at the end of 2022, out of about two billion users worldwide, with Europeans generating about a fifth of Meta’s advertising sales.

Losing the ability to target ads may deal a financial blow to Meta if advertisers reduce their spending.

EDPB Chairwoman Anu Talus said in a statement that the decision to impose a ban was taken after Meta was found not to have complied with orders issued at the end of least year.

“It is high time for Meta to bring its processing into compliance and to stop unlawful processing,” she said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)