Surveillance articles

marketing

Facebook partner admits to eavesdropping on conversations via phone mics for ad targeting

"We know what you're thinking. Is this even legal?"
A hot potato: For almost as long as we've had smartphones, there has been the belief that they surreptitiously listen to our spoken conversations to serve us targeted ads; most people have experienced seeing an ad on Facebook for something they were recently talking about. It's always been claimed that this type of privacy invasion doesn't happen. However, a marketing agency, whose clients included Facebook and Google, has admitted to using an "Active Listening" feature that eavesdrops on conversations via phone mics to gather data.
hdmi cable eavesdropping

AI can see what's on your screen by reading HDMI electromagnetic radiation

Researchers say the technique is already being used in the wild
Shiver me timbers: Security researchers have demonstrated that it's possible to spy on what's visible on your screen by intercepting electromagnetic radiation from video cables with great accuracy, thanks to artificial intelligence. The team from Uruguay's University of the Republic says their AI-powered cable-tapping method is good enough that these attacks are likely already happening.