Hundreds of Android apps covertly use your phone’s microphone to listen in on your TV habits, a new report has found.
More than 250 games on the Google Play Store, some of which are for children, were found to use software that documents the TV adverts and shows you watch.
The information is collected even when the apps are not running and is sold on to advertisers for ad targeting and analysis.
Hundreds of Android apps covertly use your phone’s microphone to listen in on your TV habits (left), a new report has found. More than 250 games on the Google Play Store were found to record TV habits, some of which are for children, including ‘Honey Quest’ (right)
According to a new New York Times report, more than 250 games on the Google Play Store use the software.
Created by San Francisco firm Alphonso, the programme listens for audio signals in TV adverts and shows through the smartphone’s microphone.
The software even detects sounds while stored in a pocket if the apps are running in the background.
According to Alphonso, its software does not record human conversation, and people are free to opt out of its tracking service at any time.
The firm’s chief executive Ashish Chordia said Alphonso has even partnered with film studios to spy on people’s viewing habits in theatres.
‘A lot of the folks will go and turn off their phone, but a small portion of people don’t and put it in their pocket,’ Mr Chordia told the New York Times.
‘In those cases, we are able to pick up in a small sample who is watching the show or the movie.’
Most of the apps found using the software are available in the Google Play Store, while a smaller number can also be downloaded from Apple’s App Store.
Some of the apps disclose the software’s ‘TV viewership detail’ tracking under the ‘read more’ button in their descriptions, as well as their software use policies.
Both Google and Apple require apps to ask specific permission from users to access a device’s microphone, but many users don’t read these disclosures.
Some of the apps disclose their TV tracking under the ‘read more’ button in their descriptions (left). ‘Teeth Fixed’ (right) tracks viewing habits, and was developed by KLAP Edutainment, which describes itself as ‘focusing on offering educational games for kids and students’
‘The consumer is opting in knowingly and can opt out any time,’ Mr Chordia said.
He added that the firm provides instructions on its website on how to opt out of the software and that its disclosures comply with Federal Trade Commission guidelines.
While Mr Chordia claimed Alphonso does not approve of its software being used in apps targeted at children, it has been found integrated into a number of games such as ‘Zap Balloons’ and ‘Teeth Fixed’ by India-based KLAP Edutainment.
The software, developed by a company called Alphonso, even detects sounds from TV adverts and shows while stored in a pocket if the apps are running in the background (stock image)
The developer describes itself as ‘primarily focusing on offering educational games for kids and students.’
Dave Morgan, founder and CEO of Simulmedia, which works with marketers on targeted ads, told NYT: ‘We have to be really careful as we have more devices capturing more information in living rooms and bedrooms and on the street and in other people’s homes that the public is not blindsided and surprised by things.
‘It’s not what’s legal. It is what’s not creepy.’