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The marketing company is owned by Cox, an ISP, cable, phone, and general media conglomerate. This capability is apparently already active and being sold.

The full article title is: "Marketing Company Claims That It Actually Is Listening to Your Phone and Smart Speakers to Target Ads"

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Yeah I had to trim it down to fit HN.

But I’d love to see more proof of this. I fully believe it’s happening, but only on some devices.

For example I doubt Apple devices do it (they’ve locked that down a lot and added recording indicators). Or any other relatively premium brand like Sony or Samsung. But I fully believe the ultra cheap versions of things like TVs or Android phones would do it. A $50 Android phone at a gas station has to make money somehow.

Cox Media Group was actually spun out from Cox and the two appear largely independent.

You're right, but Wikipedia says that Cox Enterprises (which owns the ISP) retains a 29% stake in CMG.

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