The tech discussed in the patent has not been included in any of Facebook’s products, “and never will be.”
For those of you who have watched Jim Carrey’s The Truman Show, you would realise how scarily close the similarity between the movie and Facebook.
Even during Facebook’s massive data leak scandal, Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn remarked that Facebook looks “a whole lot like the Truman Show,” where users’ information is “made available to people they don’t know, and then that data is crunched and used and they are fully unaware of this.”
Now, we are getting reports that the social media giant has applied for a patent on technology that listens to “ambient audio” to detect what you’re watching on TV.
The patent, which is titled Broadcast Content View Analysis Based On Ambient Audio Recording and was published on June 14 this year, describes how an “ambient audio fingerprint or signature” could be embedded in the audio of a TV ad or other content.
The high-pitched “non-human hearable digital sound” would trigger a device such as a smartphone to start recording the surrounding “ambient audio.”
The technology is designed to monitor what people watch on their “broadcasting device” so that the adverts they are shown on Facebook are likely to appeal to them, and give companies an accurate sense of the size of the audience which has viewed their promotion.
Facebook’s response?
The patent had been filed “to prevent aggression from other companies,” Facebook Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Allen Lo told Engadget in a statement this week.
The technology in this patent has not been included in any of Facebook’s products, “and never will be”, Lo said.
Not even Facebook, a couple in Portland had their conversations recorded by their Amazon Echo.
The device then sent the recording to someone in their contacts — without the couple’s knowledge.
The report instantly sparked concern and outrage that Amazon’s Echo smart speaker is listening to and recording much more than the company claims.
Is the Customer at the heart of your Digital Transformation?
On 19th of July, MARKETING will be organising a conference on Customer-Centric Digital Transformation (#DTCX2018) to help you answer that question. The conference will be driven by Paul Stewart who authored the best-seller ‘Branded Customer Service’ and currently is the Special Advisor, Strategy & Transformation for P. S. Thinking. Drawing from his 25 years of diverse experience as a Chief Economist, CEO and consulting in organisational change, transformation and innovation Paul will be sharing his learnings and current trends in this realm.
He will be joined by key thought leaders in the areas of transformation, data analytics, customer service, branding, marketing, digital, human resources and more! Some of the key names who will be joining us include:
* Imran Kunalan Abdullah, Advisor/Principal Consultant – Digital Talent Development & Leadership and People Analytics
* George Aveling, CEO, TMI Malaysia
* Laurence Smith, Head, Asia Region, SmartUP
* Falko Leonhardt, Principal Consultant Transformation Strategy and Change, TMI
* Mohd Adam Wee Abdullah, Group CMO & Chief Customer Experience Officer, CIMB Group
* Rene Werner, Chief Customer Service & Customer Experience Officer, Celcom Axiata Berhad
* Noelle Lim, Director, BFM Edge Education
* Vigneswaran Sivalingam, Director of Operations, Teledirect of Telecommerce
Get ready to be inspired by case studies on transformation, honest conversations on driving change and actionable insights you can take back to implement in your organisation.
Date: 19th July 2018
Time: 8.30 am -6.00 pm
Venue: Sime Darby Convention Center, Bukit Kiara
For more information on DTCX 2018:
Click to visit DTCXJuly19 Microsite.
Download PDF Programme here.
Contact Amira [email protected] | 03 7726 2588
Book your spot early to avoid disappointment!
MARKETING Magazine is not responsible for the content of external sites.
The Malaysian Marketing Conference & Festival 2024 at the Sime Darby Convention Centre is a TWO-day marketing event for all those in Marketing, Media, Advertising, PR, Digital, Data, and more….
The experience is on May 15 & 16, with Keynote Speakers, multiple tracks or Breakaway Sessions hosted by our booth partners who will show you the latest in the industry.
