What’s in an app? Amidst all of the lines of code, researchers have found over 230 apps that have a special ultrasonic listening technology called SilverPush embedded in them.
How can you find out if you’ve got SilverPush on your smartphone? What can you do about it? Your PI can help, but in the meantime, if an app asks permission to use your microphone, err on the side of NO!
Tracking device software called SliverPush is back in the spotlight and on the rise.
This technology makes use of the microphone on your smartphone to listen into ultrasonic signals embedded in audio content or television. Ultrasonic audio can also be sent by beacons to be heard by this tech to track the location, media use, and location of those who have this tech on their phone.
By picking up on ultrasonic signals, your SilverPush can tell if you stop to look at a promotion or advertisement, or if your use your smartphone to visit a website after seeing an ad for it. This information can then be used to tailor ads to appeal to you based on your habits, attention, and media use.
The catch is that most people who have SilverPush on their phone have no idea it’s even there.
SilverPush is not an app or tech you can download. It’s code embedded in other apps, including apps produced by McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme. In 2015, SilverPush code was found embedded in only six apps. Today, researchers found 234 Android apps with this code in them. That means any of these 234 apps that could be on your smartphone are listening for ultrasonic audio without your knowledge, especially if you have apps with an always listening mode like Siri or Google Assistant.
While SilverPush is widespread and growing, its full use is not yet being exploited. There are several causes of this. The first is that many of the smartphones this technology is hiding in do not have the hardware to listen to ultrasonic audio. Even if the software is present, without the hardware it is useless. Second, SilverPush cannot listen to ultrasonic audio if it is not being broadcasted. If audio or television clips were emitting ultrasonic audio embedded in their content, SilverPush would certainly be able to track users and understand their media use and what kinds of advertisements they pay attention to. However, the same researchers who discovered SilverPush in 234 Android apps did not find ultrasonic audio embedded in television content. Third, when an app requests access to your microphone, the Android operating system will alert you and ask permission, which you can – and should – deny. Finally, this ultrasonic listening tech is not embedded in apps everywhere in the world. For example, McDonald’s UK declared that this kind of tech is not used in their apps in the UK specifically.
Even though this technology is not currently being exploited to its full tracking and marketing potential, the rapid increase in its appearance in commonplace apps should be viewed as the writing on the wall.
Start protecting yourself now. Turn apps like Siri and Google Assistant off of the always listening mode. When an app wants access to your microphone, deny permission.
If you have an Android smartphone and want to be entirely sure you don’t have a bug in your ear you weren’t aware of, your PI can help. Contact Mignolet@bellsouth.net for a consultation.