Have you ever talked to a friend about a brand of clothing, navigated with the phone and found yourself in front of the banner of that same brand? We often don't pay attention, we're so used to it personalized advertising and to the "cookies”, files that track online activity to find out our interests. But the point is that now, to be spied on, it is not necessary to do a manual search: just the word.
The mechanism is simple. Many applications that we download to the smartphone they ask for permission to access the microphone. Most people click "allow" without thinking too much, perhaps in the belief that access will only be allowed when the app is in use.
The news is that this is often not the case. When we give consent, apps attach their virtual ear to our microphone and they don't take it off anymore. After that, when they hear us mention a certain pair of shoes or a watch, they place exactly those products in their banner ads.
It is the apotheosis of intrusive marketing, which allows companies to show themselves only (or above all) to consumers who are actually interested in their products. But maybe it is too an invasion of privacy, because hardly anyone knows that they are being heard on their phone. And in fact usually, in front of a banner obviously made to measure for us, we are confused: “But when did I look for it online? I don't remember doing that..."
The matter is so serious that the Privacy Guarantor has launched an investigation in collaboration with the special privacy and technological fraud unit of the Guardia di Finanza. During the investigation, several of the most downloaded apps will be examined to verify their transparency, i.e. whether users are correctly informed about the use made of their microphone.
But while we wait for the Guarantor, let's keep in mind that it exists a do it yourself solution. Just go to the smartphone settings, open the app folder and check them one by one, checking which and how many permissions we have granted. In some cases we will read the clarification "allowed only while using the app", in others not. And maybe that's the time to take action by ticking the box "refuses".
