Nearly half of Britons believe they have been the victim of ‘sonic snooping,’ in which advertisements for a product appear on your phone screen shortly after discussing it or seeing it on TV.
NordVPN, a cybersecurity firm, has confirmed that this phenomenon is occurring as a result of apps listening in on background noise – and potentially private conversations as well.
They claim that a phone’s microphone is constantly picking up hints about where people are, what they are doing, and what they are interested in.
According to a survey of over 1,000 people in the UK conducted by the company, 45 percent had noticed an advertisement for a product or service that they had not searched for but had recently discussed or seen on TV.
Half of those polled said it made them feel like they were being watched, while one in eight said it scared them. Despite this, two-thirds of those affected said they had no idea how to stop it.
Much of the data is gathered using a contentious form of digital surveillance known as ultrasonic cross-device tracking.
This is where our smart home products, from TVs to laptops, can spy on us by secretly communicating with one another.
They accomplish this by sending ultrasonic waves around the room that are too high for humans to hear, revealing both our location and what we are up to.
When we are on social media or browsing the internet, our smartphones, laptops, and tablets pick up these signals through their microphones and use the data to show us relevant advertisements.
This is why so many apps ask for permission to access the microphone, even if it does not appear to be relevant to their purpose.
Cross-tracking, according to cybersecurity consultant Adrianus Warmenhoven, is a goldmine for advertisers because it allows them to “gather a lot of information about you, all without your knowledge.”
However, he stated that it is impossible to prevent your smart home devices from emitting these ultrasonic waves, even if they are not connected to the internet.
Instead, the only way to protect any unwanted tracking was to check what ‘permissions’ users have granted the apps they have installed – in particular whether they had access to the microphone.