{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2024/9/issues/technology/blackburn-probes-big-tech-platforms-after-cox-media-group-admits-it-listens-to-users-phone-conversations", "Blackburn Probes Big Tech Platforms After Cox Media Group Admits It Listens to Users\u2019 Phone Conversations", "2024-09-24", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "Senate", "TN", "Marsha Blackburn", "B001243", "www.blackburn.senate.gov", "blackburn", "https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) sent three letters to the leadership of Cox Media Group and its clients, Google and Meta, following reporting that Cox Media Group admitted to investors that it listens to users\u2019 smartphone microphones using \u201cActive Listening\u201d software.\n\nAccording to this reporting, Cox Media Group claimed the company targets advertisements based on phone conversations of potential customers and identified specific clients during a slide deck presentation to investors, including Google and Meta. Both Google and Meta have a troublesome history of ignoring consumer privacy.\n\nCox Media Group Admitted It Uses Artificial Intelligence to Listen to Phone Conversations\n\n\u201cI write today with concerns following recent reporting by the New York Post that Cox Media Group has admitted to investors that it deploys \u2018active listening\u2019 software, which uses artificial intelligence to \u2018capture real-time intent data by listening to [users] phone conversations.\u2019\u201d\n\nReporting Confirms Longstanding Concerns Held by Consumers about Online Privacy\n\n\u201cConsumers have long expressed concerns about their privacy in the virtual space and how their data is misused. If this reporting is true, it confirms longstanding suspicions by many consumers that technology and media companies are violating their privacy for profit by marketing products that closely reflect key words or phrases from private conversations. It is imperative that consumers have the ability to clearly opt in and out of features that track their behavior and that they are alerted when these features are deployed. I request a copy of the slide deck presented to investors.\u201d\n\nBlackburn Demands Google and Meta Reveal Extent \u201cActive Listening\u201d Tools Were Deployed on Users\n\n\u201cI am seeking answers regarding Google\u2019s [and Meta\u2019s] relationship with Cox Media Group, the extent to which, if at all, \u2018active listening\u2019 tools were deployed on users, the steps Google [and Meta] [are] taking to investigate the products and services from Cox Media Group used by Google [and on Facebook] and the extent to which those products may have violated any applicable privacy policies or user agreements [and users\u2019 privacy].\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND:\n\nLast year, Google settled a $5 billion lawsuit claiming it \u201csecretly tracked the internet use of millions of people who thought they were doing their browsing privately.\u201d This is not the first time Google has seen legal action for violating consumers\u2019 privacy rights. A search engine with the reach of Google must prioritize the privacy of its users and use diligence when handling their data.\n\nIn 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) imposed a $5 billion penalty on Facebook for violating consumers\u2019 privacy. Then-FTC Chairman Joe Simons said of Facebook, \u201cdespite repeated promises to its billions of users worldwide that they could control how their personal information is shared, Facebook undermined consumers\u2019 choices.\u201d This long-demonstrated pattern of public reassurances by Meta directly contradicts the company\u2019s record of flagrant disregard for user privacy.\n\nRELATED:\n\nICYMI: Senator Blackburn Pushes Big Tech For Answers On Their Predatory Privacy Practices\n\nBlackburn, Wicker Introduce Federal Data Privacy Legislation\n\nClickhere to view the letter to Meta Platforms Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.\n\nClickhere to view the letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2024/9/issues/technology/blackburn-probes-big-tech-platforms-after-cox-media-group-admits-it-listens-to-users-phone-conversations"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7532769124954939, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}