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Facebook Patent Imagines Triggering Your Phone's Mic When a Hidden Signal Plays on TV (gizmodo.com)
Based on a recently published patent application, Facebook could one day use ads on television to further violate a user's privacy. From a report: The patent is titled "broadcast content view analysis based on ambient audio recording." It describes a system in which an "ambient audio fingerprint or signature" that's inaudible to the human ear could be embedded in broadcast content like a TV ad. When a hypothetical user is watching this ad, the audio fingerprint could trigger their smartphone or another device to turn on its microphone, begin recording audio and transmit data about it to Facebook.
What can really be done?
I explain shit like this to people, they call me paranoid.
I show them proof, they say they don't care.
Privacy? They say they have nothing to hide.
They're beyond saving, but they're the majority. They don't care about their privacy, all they know is they can trade it for more cute cat mobile games.
So what can you do?
Phones and computers need a manual (not software) "data capture" on/off switch. This switch would physically disable the phone's microphone and cameras (and if possible, screen capture).
If I manually slide the data capture switch to OFF, then the mic and cameras are physically disabled. No matter what any data, software, or user preferences are, the mic and cameras are physically unable to capture sound or images. They can't capture sound or images again, until I manually slide the data capture switch back to ON.
The average person has a threshold that they have to be pushed beyond before they'll actually take anything like this seriously. What makes matters worse is that the average person has been so thoroughly indoctrinated by Corporate America and so-called 'social media' sites that sharing everything is what's normal and natural, and that people who want 'privacy' either have something wrong with their brains, or they're criminals with something to hide. With any luck this will all eventually catch up with everyone and there'll be a revolt. Until then all you can do is stay on-message, be consistent, and do what you can to protect yourself (i.e. don't use 'social media', so you're not part of the problem).
>" It describes a system in which an "ambient audio fingerprint or signature" that's inaudible to the human ear could be embedded in broadcast content like a TV ad. When a hypothetical user is watching this ad, the audio fingerprint could trigger their smartphone or another device to turn on its microphone"
How can it "turn the microphone on" if it was already "on" and constantly listening for this audible signal? Thus, the mic was already "on" and analyzing everything, all the time. This is aside from the asinine premise of this whole concept. I am sure we all have a BURNING need for our phones to be listening all the time, burning up the battery, doing god-knows-what in the background, sending personal info to places like Facebook, all so we can watch COMMERCIALS and then get even more automatic COMMERCIALS on our phones and give companies even more metrics about our personal lives, whereabouts, believes, and associations. Oh, man, sign me up now! I will make sure to throw away my DVR in the process, too, so I can watch COMMERCIALS religiously...
What I want are HARDWARE switches for: microphone, cameras, and radios on my devices. Funny how many devices USED to have such things in the past.