- Company
- Cox Media Group, MindSift and 1010 Digital Works
- Regulator or court
- Federal Trade Commission
- Law
- FTC Act, Section 5 (deceptive practices)
- Status
- Final order (settlement)
What happened
The firms sold advertisers an 'Active Listening' service that supposedly used AI to target ads based on conversations picked up by phones and smart devices, and claimed people had opted in. The FTC said the service did not use voice data at all and was largely a resale of purchased email lists, and that clicking through app terms is not real opt-in consent. The FTC added that secretly using voice data would have been illegal even if the product had worked.
Sources
FTC press release – final orders (27 Aug 2026)FTC press release – proposed settlement (May 2026)Summary in our own words. General information, not legal advice.