FTC to Require Cox Media Group, Two Other Firms to Pay Nearly $1 Million to Settle Charges They Deceived Customers About “Active Listening” AI-Powered Marketing Service
Simon Willison · Simon Willison · 2026-05-22
The FTC settled with Cox Media Group and two other firms for nearly $1 million after finding their 'Active Listening' AI marketing service falsely claimed to use real-time voice data from smart devices, when it actually resold email lists from data brokers.
Appears in
Extraction
Topics: ftc-enforcementprivacyad-targetingconsumer-deceptionai-marketing
Claims
- CMG, MindSift, and 1010 Digital Works falsely claimed their 'Active Listening' service captured real-time voice data from smart devices to target advertising.
- The service did not use voice data at all; it consisted of reselling email lists obtained from other data brokers at a significant markup.
- The FTC determined that burying consent in mandatory terms-of-service does not constitute adequate opt-in consent for collection of voice data.
- The three companies agreed to pay nearly $1 million to settle the FTC charges.
Key quotes
I think active listening is the term that the team came up with for 'something that sounds fancy but really just means the way ad targeting platforms work already'.
Clicking through mandatory terms of service does not constitute 'opt-in consent' for such an invasive service or for use of consumers' voice data from inside their homes.
Attempting to myth bust the conspiracy theory that our mobile devices target ads to us based on spying through the microphones continues to be my least rewarding niche online hobby.