Some smartphone games can listen to what your microphone picks up – but not with the intention of hearing what you're saying. Instead, they're trying to "listen" to what you're watching.
This is something smartphone apps have been doing for a long time: using your microphone to see what you're looking at, what ads you're listening to, even what movies you're watching. But a report in the New York Times last week suggests that the practice may be more widespread — and more secretive — than consumers would like.
The Times says it has identified more than 250 games on the Google Play Store that include a specific type of software that tracks users’ TV viewing habits. It’s from a company called Alphonso, and the apps that include it — the ones that disclose it, at least — often don’t make it very clear what they’re doing. Most apps seem to hide the feature in their description, under a “read more” button.
If you miss that initial warning, you might not know what you’re getting yourself into when you open the app. For example, the Endless 9*9 puzzle game from Imobile Game Studios immediately asks for location and microphone access, without explanation. The app reveals that it will track “TV viewing details” to “deliver TV-related content and ads,” but only if someone goes into the game’s settings. Users don’t have to preemptively agree.
As the Times points out, the Federal Trade Commission has warned companies about this behavior in the past. In 2016, it told a dozen Android app developers who used similar software, SilverPush, that users should be informed about the type of information their apps collect and why it’s being collected.
These apps didn’t warn users about the data collection at all, while the ones the Times found do display that information, even if it’s hidden. It’s not clear whether that’s enough. Previous FTC guidance suggests it’s not. The commission said that descriptions alone, like a YouTube video description, aren’t acceptable, since they’re likely not seen by all viewers. Considering that users can download these games without seeing the description, the same issues could arise here.
The Times says some of these apps continue to monitor the phone’s microphone even when they’re closed. And while most of the apps appear to be on Android, there appear to be a few in Apple’s App Store as well. Both Apple and Google require their apps to request microphone access — so users have to grant permission before an app can start listening — but it’s not always clear up front that the app will continue to work even without that permission.
There have been conspiracy theories for years about big apps – and Facebook in particular – using smartphone microphones to listen to what people say and then serve ads based on their conversations. That’s not exactly what’s happening here. While these apps can listen to everything you say, they’re only used to identify and listen to audio from TV shows, movies, and commercials, which they then use to target ads. That doesn’t make the practice any more welcome, but it’s at least less creepy.
And as for Facebook, it doesn't need to listen to you. It already has a ton of data about you by tracking what you do on its website, its apps, and even other websites and apps that show its ads.
