Cox deletes ‘Active Listening’ ad pitch after boasting that it eavesdrops though our phones::undefined

    • piecat@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      arrow-down
      28
      ·
      11 months ago

      There’s a dozen ways they could jump the air gap.

      Ultrasonic to a phone or Alexa/Siri/etc, connect to an unsecured network, send data to a neighbor’s smart TV which is connected to Internet, Bluetooth or other to a phone

        • piecat@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          11 months ago

          Something that can be done easily and may be done in the future, if it hasn’t been discovered yet

          Clandestine methods have been known since the 2000s. We know they’re scummy and want our data. Why does this seem too crazy?

          • InFerNo@lemmy.ml
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            11 months ago

            Because it would result in a scandal and it seems easily discoverable (by professional investigators/engineers). I don’t know. It’s likely done on a small, targeted, scale, but can’t imagine this rolled out on a large scale. Too little gain for the potential lashback, quite some factors need to be right, too.

          • willis936@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            11 months ago

            The economics aren’t there. A cellular chip and a subscription will not pay for the private conversations of a random house.

            • piecat@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              11 months ago

              You’re right, but I’m not alleging they would use cell.

              Presumably the smart appliance already has wireless capabilities like WiFi/BLE. And then it’s just a software exercise on how to code an interface between devices of the same manufacturer.

      • Boy of Soy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        11 months ago

        That would add a ludicrous amount of cost to the device in both material cost and R&D. It’s so incredibly unlikely that any company would make that investment just to spy on the conversations of ordinary citizens when there are far cheaper and easier ways for them to build and sell advertising profiles.

        • piecat@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          11 months ago

          Ludicrous R&D?

          Ultrasound is used by Microsoft teams, some apps use it to transmit data between phones. Back in the day there was a chrome app to transfer links.

          Amazon sidewalk already connects devices together. Samsung Smart things already bridges Samsung devices. Apple Air tags already use “primary” Internet connected devices to transmit data about “secondary” devices.

          None of this is new tech, it’s all feasible.