Media Giant CMG Bragged About Eavesdropping On Phone, Laptop, 'Smart Home' Mics

 For years people have suspected that their smartphones, laptops, and home assistants were secretly eavesdropping on their private conversations. Now, a leaked pitch deck seems to confirm that our devices are, in fact, listening—and the implications are far-reaching.

Leaked slide via 404 Media

A leaked pitch deck presentation from Cox Media Group (CMG) - major player in the digital advertising space, appears to detail how its "Active-Listening" software uses artificial intelligence to capture and analyze "real-time intent data" from users' conversations. The presentation, obtained by 404 Media, lays out how CMG's software could listen to everything spoken near a microphone-equipped device—whether it's a phone, laptop, or home assistant like Amazon's Alexa, the Daily Mail reports.

Active-Listening: A Six-Step Process to Harvest Voice Data

The pitch deck outlines a six-step process for CMG's Active-Listening software, which turns seemingly benign conversations into targeted advertising gold. The first slide describes how the software listens to your conversations and extracts real-time intent data, which advertisers can then pair with behavioral data to target "in-market consumers." In simple terms, it means that if you mention a product or service in a conversation, advertisers can target you with ads for that very item.

For instance, if you're talking about Toyota cars with a friend, you might soon find yourself inundated with ads for Toyota’s latest models. This alleged use of private conversations for ad targeting represents a significant breach of what most people consider to be their personal privacy.

The slideshow goes further, showcasing tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon as clients of CMG, suggesting they may use this controversial technology. These companies have long denied listening to user conversations through device microphones, but this leaked document raises new questions.

Tech Giants in Hot Water: Denials, Uncertainties, and Potential Backpedaling

Following the leak, Google swiftly removed Cox Media Group from its "Partners Program" website, a move that suggests a distancing from the controversial practice. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, responded by stating it is reviewing CMG for any potential violations of its terms of service. Meanwhile, Amazon declared that its advertising division "has never worked with CMG on this program and has no plans to do so." However, their spokesperson left the door slightly ajar, stating that if a marketing partner violates their rules, action will be taken.

The mixed responses leave the status of these relationships somewhat murky. Are these denials simply a strategy to buy time while the companies reassess their partnerships with CMG, or are they genuinely unaware of these practices?

Is Active Listening Legal?

Although the notion of listening to conversations may seem like an egregious violation of privacy, CMG claims it is entirely legal. In a now-deleted blog post from November 2023, CMG wrote, "We know what you're thinking. Is this even legal? The short answer is: yes. It is legal for phones and devices to listen to you."

The legality, CMG argues, comes from the lengthy and often-overlooked "terms of use" agreements that consumers must accept when downloading new apps or updates. Buried in the fine print of these agreements, the software's Active Listening feature is sometimes included, making the practice legally permissible—if ethically questionable.

This might explain how CMG operates in states like California, where wiretapping laws typically prohibit recording someone without their knowledge. If users unknowingly consented to these practices when they accepted an app's terms of service, then companies like CMG can claim they are within their rights.

A Long-Running Speculation, Now Potentially Validated

For years, users have speculated that their phones or tablets were eavesdropping on their private conversations, only to serve up eerily targeted ads shortly after. Tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon have consistently denied these claims. Meta’s online privacy center even states, "We understand that sometimes ads can be so specific, it seems like we must be listening to your conversations through your microphone, but we're not."

However, the leaked pitch deck paints a different picture. It appears to confirm what millions have long suspected: tech giants and their marketing partners could be cashing in on what users say in the privacy of their homes.

New Revelations Spark Further Concerns

This revelation follows a series of similar findings that have ignited debates over privacy in the digital age. Just a day after the CMG leak, 404 Media exposed another AI marketing company, MindSift, which boasted on a podcast about using smart device speakers to target ads.

As more details emerge, the extent of privacy violations continues to grow. The question now is, what steps will regulators, companies, and consumers take in response to these revelations? Will there be a move toward more stringent privacy protections, or will these practices become more ingrained in the digital advertising landscape?

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/media-giant-cmg-bragged-about-eavesdropping-phone-laptop-or-smart-home-microphones

Biden-Harris DOJ Threatens To Sue 2 Small Wis. Towns Refusing To Use Electronic Vote Machines

 by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

The Biden-Harris Department of Justice has threatened to sue two small towns in Wisconsin over their refusal to use electronic voting machines to cast and tabulate votes, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.

In July, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke threatened to file a lawsuit against the State of Wisconsin, the state Elections Commission and Administrator Meagan Wolfe, and the towns of Thornapple and Lawrence, as well as the towns’ clerks and boards of supervisors, because the towns allegedly did not offer voting equipment at their polling places in the April presidential primary election.

Clarke warned the potential plaintiffs in a letter that by not offering voting equipment for people with disabilities, they were in violation of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

Among the federal requirements is that each voting system must be “accessible for individuals with disabilities, including nonvisual accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and independence) as for other voters,” the letter states.

Voting systems used for federal elections therefore have to have “at least one direct recording electronic voting system or other voting system equipped for individuals with disabilities at each polling place,” the letter said.

The letter went on to state that federal investigators had determined that the towns had failed to make “at least one direct recording electronic voting system or other voting system equipped for individuals with disabilities available at each polling place, including during the April 2, 2024, federal primary election.”

Clark said to avoid litigation, town officials needed to negotiate a “consent decree” with the federal government.

“We hope to resolve this matter amicably and to avoid protracted litigation. Accordingly, we are prepared to delay filing the complaint briefly to permit us time to negotiate a consent decree to be filed with the complaint,” she wrote.

Despite this warning, Thornapple, population 8,297, allegedly conducted the August primary election using only hand-counted, paper ballots. The Thornapple township board reportedly voted to eliminate electronic voting machines last Spring. In Wisconsin, most voters use paper ballots that are tabulated by electronic counting machines.

Suzanne Pinnow, Thornapple’s Treasurer, has disputed that voters with disabilities were unable to use an accessible voting machine during the April election. “No one’s been turned away,” she told the Journal- Sentinel in May.

Pinnow also told Votebeat that nobody in the town had been unable to vote because of the decision not to have accessible voting machines.

“I wish I could talk. I wish I could,” Pinnow said. “I wish I could because I think more people need to hear and understand and know why. But at this time, I can’t … because if it for some reason would go to litigation, I don’t want anything out there that I’m spewing this or that or saying something that I didn’t say.”

The Wisconsin Elections Commission issued a guidance in June mandating that accessible voting equipment must be provided for all elections administered by a municipality, in addition to federal elections.

A Complaint filed this week with the commission alleged that Thornapple is breaking the law by refusing to make voting machines available to voters with disabilities during the April and August primaries.

“By ceasing to use electronic voting equipment and, instead, exclusively using paper ballots completed and tabulated by hand, Respondents are no longer using voting systems that are accessible for individuals with disabilities in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and independence) as for other voters,” the complainant, Disability Rights Wisconsin (DRW) argued.

The left-wing disability rights group asked the Wisconsin Elections Commission to order Thornapple to make accessible voting machines available.

DRW Director of Legal and Advocacy Services Kit Kerschensteiner told Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) that “the goal is to ensure all town residents are able to cast private ballots in the November presidential election.”

“This is not the situation of a machine that just isn’t functioning that day at the polling place,” Kerschensteiner said. “This is a place that has chosen specifically, knowing that they were disenfranchising individuals with disabilities, and choosing to go ahead and do that, which we find to be unacceptable.”

Thornapple Town Board Supervisor Tom Zelm told the Journal-Sentinel in May that the decision to pull voting machines was made in June 2023.

Town voter and Rusk County Democratic Party chair Erin Webster told the paper she believed the decision was tied to former President and current GOP nominee Donald Trump’s claims about the rigged 2020 presidential election.

Webster posted on YouTube a recording of her phone call with town Supervisor Jack Zupan, in which he said the board believes that “there was a stolen election and the computers have to go because they are full of error.”

“There are court cases right now that show that anybody can hack into and manipulate that machine within a matter of just a couple of minutes,” Zupan added.

“Oh, so you’re also a conspiracy believer!” Webster retorted.

But it’s true that there are court cases have been examining these claims. In the Colorado Vs. Tina Peters case, for instance, “nationally recognized computer cybersecurity experts” who examined forensic images from the hard drives of Dominion voting systems computers independently concluded:

Dominion voting systems (1) are not auditable, as required by federal and state law (2) they can connect to the internet during elections, which violates federal and state law; and (3) they are capable of manipulating ballots and vote tabulations, which violates federal and state law; (4) the software overwrites Windows Operating System log files that are recorded during elections, which are required by federal and state law to be preserved. All these deficiencies make Dominion voting systems illegal to use in Colorado elections.

In fact, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a report in 2020 on the security and vulnerabilities of “Election Infrastructure” throughout the country ahead of the  election that year. Election infrastructure includes voter registration databases and IT systems, voting machines and systems, and software used for casting votes.

According to CISA:

• 76% of EI entities for which CISA performed a Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA) had spearphishing weaknesses, which provide an entry point for adversaries to launch
attacks;
• 48% of entities had a critical or high severity vulnerability on at least one internetaccessible host,4 providing potential attack vectors to adversaries;
• 39% of entities ran at least one risky service on an internet-accessible host, providing the opportunity for threat actors to attack otherwise legitimate services; and
• 34% of entities ran unsupported operating systems (OSs) on at least one internet accessible host, which exposes entities to compromise.

CISA said election entities could “significantly reduce their cybersecurity risk by performing additional investigation and analysis of the findings described in this report. CISA encourages entities to implement
standard cyber hygiene practices and applicable mitigations identified in this report to reduce their exposure.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/biden-harris-doj-threatens-sue-two-small-wisconsin-towns-over-refusal-use-electronic

Harris' So-Called 'Surge' Is Thanks To Oversampling: Pollsters

 As we've been highlighting since 2016, polls are not to be trusted thanks to various 'tricks of the trade' - most commonly, oversampling.

Last month we noted how the founder of the main outside spending group backing Kamala Harris for president says their own internal opinion polling is "much less rosy" than public polls.

"Our numbers are much less rosy than what you're seeing in the public," said Future Forward super PAC president Chauncey McLean said during a Monday event hosted by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.

Now, the Washington Times reports that some pollsters are even sounding the alarm over Vice President Kamala Harris' so-called 'surge' in the polls - which Harris pulled ahead in after replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee on July 21.

Since the switch, Harris is leading Trump nationally by nearly 2 percentage points and is either leading or tied with him in all seven battleground states. However, Republican analysts argue that these polling numbers may not accurately reflect voter sentiment due to biased polling methodology.

If you want to see examples of polling bias, click into this thread on X...

Critics point out that many polls have been sampling a disproportionately smaller share of Republican voters compared to exit poll data from the 2020 presidential election. The result, they say, is a misleading "phantom advantage" for Ms. Harris. According to them, this skewed sampling could be a strategic move to boost enthusiasm and fundraising for Ms. Harris' campaign.

Trump campaign strategist Jim McLaughlin echoed this sentiment, stating, "They undersample Republicans" intentionally "to tamp down support and donations for Trump." He added that the polls are part of a larger effort to create a narrative that favors Harris.

Trump has openly criticized the poll results. “It’s fake news,” Trump declared during a rally in Michigan. “They can make those polls sing.”

Harris’ recent poll numbers have indeed helped fuel excitement among her supporters, as evidenced by her campaign's announcement of a $540 million fundraising haul in July, more than four times what Mr. Trump raised in the same period. Still, the growing skepticism over the legitimacy of the polls has prompted some to question whether the surge in support is as real as it appears.

Recent polls that show a Harris lead, such as the Suffolk University/USA Today poll, included more respondents identifying as Democrats (37.1%) than Republicans (33.8%). The poll found Ms. Harris leading Trump by 5 percentage points, a significant turnaround from earlier in the year when Trump was ahead by 4 points vs. Biden. Similarly, a Yahoo News/YouGov poll released on August 27 found Ms. Harris ahead of Mr. Trump by 1 percentage point, with Democrats making up 33% of respondents compared to only 29% for Republicans.

The discrepancy in party sampling is causing concern among poll watchers. Data from the 2020 exit polls showed a nearly equal split, with 36% identifying as Republican and 37% as Democrat. Yet, recent polls seem to favor Democrats disproportionately, leading to claims of deliberate skewing.

Mr. Trump’s pollster, Tony Fabrizio, has argued that these polls are designed to suppress support for Mr. Trump. In a memo, he stated, “Once again, we see a series of public surveys released with the clear intent and purpose of depressing support for President Trump.”

Pollsters like Don Levy of the New York Times/Siena Poll counter that these claims lack substance. They argue that any gaps between recalled 2020 vote and actual 2020 results are not evidence of intentional bias but may reflect the complexity of polling dynamics, including response bias where Democrats are more likely to participate in polls.

Despite these excuses, the controversy surrounding these polls has left many wondering about the true state of the race. Polling analysis site FiveThirtyEight shows Ms. Harris' approval rating ticking up to 42.3%, up from 37.1% in early July. Yet, doubts persist over how she has managed to rise in the polls without significantly improving her historically low job approval ratings.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/harris-so-called-surge-thanks-oversampling-pollsters

Prokidney Updates Phase 3 Program to Accelerate Rilparencel’s Registration

 ProKidney Corp. (Nasdaq: PROK) (“ProKidney” or the “Company”), a late clinical-stage biotech company focused on the development of a first-in-class cell therapy candidate for chronic kidney disease (CKD), today announced strategic updates to its Phase 3 program for rilparencel, an investigational treatment to potentially preserve kidney function in patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced CKD.

ProKidney recently completed a comprehensive internal and external review, including engaging with ex-FDA officials and seasoned regulatory experts, to determine the optimal path to bring rilparencel to patients in the U.S. with type 2 diabetes and advanced CKD – a market where there is high unmet clinical and economic need. An important conclusion of this review is that under the provisions of the Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) designation, the Company believes rilparencel is eligible for initial FDA approval under an expedited approval pathway based upon successful completion of the ongoing Phase 3 REGEN-006 (PROACT 1) trial. ProKidney believes that the Phase 3 REGEN-016 (PROACT 2) trial is not required for initial U.S. registration. Thus, the Company will discontinue PROACT 2, which was focused on enrollment outside the U.S. With the discontinuation of PROACT 2, ProKidney now expects current cash to support operating plans into Q1 2027. The Company estimates the revised Phase 3 program will deliver topline results by Q3 2027 and reduce expenses by approximately $150 to $175 million.

“We decided to prioritize PROACT 1 to accelerate potential U.S. registration and commercial launch. We are confident that this strategic shift in our Phase 3 program is the most expeditious and resource efficient approach to bring rilparencel to market in the U.S., our highest priority market,” said Bruce Culleton, M.D., Chief Executive Officer. “The recent positive REGEN-007 interim data update in June further supports the urgency to bring our innovation to patients with advanced CKD. We look forward to continuing our engagement with the FDA, under the RMAT designation, to bring rilparencel to market.”

Today’s update follows a transformational period for ProKidney over the past 10 months. In November 2023, Bruce Culleton, M.D., a nephrologist and seasoned leader of kidney care organizations, was appointed Chief Executive Officer. Under Dr. Culleton’s leadership, ProKidney has made significant progress, including the implementation of improved quality management systems to ensure compliance with global standards for commercial manufacturing and the Phase 3 program, the refinement and restart of the Phase 3 program with a renewed focus on patients with advanced CKD in the U.S., and the appointment of several key executive leaders across clinical operations, manufacturing, human resources, and business operations. The Company also released final data from the Phase 2 RMCL-002 trial and interim data from the Phase 2 REGEN-007 trial. Data from these trials suggest that rilparencel’s greatest potential therapeutic impact is in advanced CKD patients at high risk of kidney failure. This patient population aligns with feedback from payors and providers who have emphasized the need for treatment options in this population.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/09/03/2939571/0/en/ProKidney-Announces-Strategic-Updates-to-its-Phase-3-Program-to-Accelerate-Rilparencel-s-Registrational-Path-to-Potential-Approval-in-the-U-S.html

AI specialist Recursion says lead drug is safe, but efficacy less clear

 

• Recursion Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday said results from a mid-stage trial showed its lead experimental drug to be safe, the first readout in a series of important data disclosures for the AI drug discovery specialist.

• But the summary findings Recursion announced provide little indication of whether the drug, a treatment for a potentially dangerous kind of vascular malformation in the brain, might be effective. MRI scans of the brains of study participants given the highest dose showed a “trend” toward smaller lesions, Recursion said.

• Shares in Recursion fell by double digits Tuesday morning. The Salt Lake City-based company intends to submit its data for publication in a scientific journal, and to discuss plans for a follow-up clinical trial with the Food and Drug Administration “as soon as practical.”

This year has been big for Recursion, which claims its vast datasets, and the technology it uses to mine them, will allow the company to “turn drug discovery from sequential trial-and-error into a search problem.”

Recursion made a splash at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in January, pitching its approach to biopharmaceutical industry executives at an event it co-hosted with chip giant Nvidia. Then, in August, Recursion announced a deal to combine with Exscientia, an AI drug discovery rival that had ranked among the field’s most well resourced. The companies touted the potential of their combined drug pipeline, which they expect to deliver around 10 clinical trial readouts over 18 months.

Thursday’s announcement involves a drug compound Recursion selected with earlier iterations of its technology and then licensed. Dubbed REC-994, the drug is designed to treat a neurovascular condition known as cerebral cavernous malformation. Typically sporadic in nature, the condition develops as irregular bunches of small blood vessels. Leaking blood from these formations can cause seizures, headaches and potentially fatal hemorrhagic stroke.

While Recursion’s trial was a Phase 2 test, its main goals centered on safety. The company said its drug met those goals. The frequency and severity of adverse events after one year of treatment were similar across the placebo, 200 milligram drug dose and 400 milligram drug dose groups.

Efficacy evaluations were less clear. Along with the “trend” toward reduced lesion size, Recursion also reported that treatment with REC-994 led to a similar trend on MRI scans in the size of hemosiderin rings — iron-containing halos caused by blood leaking from malformed vessels.

Notably, an evaluation of patient- and physician-reported outcomes showed no improvement at the one-year mark.

In a statement provided by Recursion, Jan-Karl Burkhardt, the division head of cerebrovascular surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and the study’s lead investigator, described the results as an “impressive start” that “strongly supports the need for a future study.”

Recursion CEO Chris Gibson has made in recent remarks a point of emphasizing the company’s overall pipeline, rather than talking up the importance of specific readouts.

“There are going to be successes. There are going to be failures,” he told reporters at the JPM meeting, speaking generally of AI drug discovery. “People are going to make some predictions about the industry based on those early data points.”

Still, Tuesday’s readout and those that follow this year and early next will likely do much to shape investors’ views of whether Recursion’s technology is more effective than more traditional approaches to drug discovery.

Data are expected this year from a candidate it’s developing for neurofibromatosis type 2, and in the first half of 2025 for a treatment for familial adenomatous polyposis.

https://finance.yahoo.com/m/0c753ec8-8167-30c0-b970-eab2a00ee948/ai-specialist-recursion-says.html

Zynex Obtains FDA clearance for new Pain Management Device

 Zynex Inc. (NASDAQ: ZYXI), a leading medical technology company specializing in non-invasive medical devices for pain management and rehabilitation, today announced FDA clearance of its new TensWave device.

The TensWave device, by prescription only, builds on Zynex's strong legacy of innovation in pain management. It offers a user-friendly, portable design that can be easily integrated into patients' daily routines. The device aims to provide effective pain relief through TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) therapy, which has been clinically proven to reduce chronic and acute pain without needing medication.

"The introduction of TensWave aligns perfectly with our commitment to providing comprehensive pain management solutions," said Thomas Sandgaard, CEO of Zynex Medical. "We recognized a gap in the market for a high-quality TENS device that meets the specific criteria for insurance reimbursement, and TensWave is our answer to that demand. It complements our flagship multi-modality device, the NexWave, where Interferential current is the main modality and driver of obtaining prescriptions. This device broadens our product portfolio and enhances our support to patients."

It is important to note that the TensWave device is not intended to replace our market-leading NexWave electrotherapy device, which remains the top choice for patients seeking a comprehensive electrotherapy solution but in certain instances, can provide flexibility in dealing with patients' insurance coverage. The TensWave is a complementary product designed for those whose insurance plans exclusively cover TENS therapy.

The TensWave is poised to become an essential tool for patients suffering from chronic pain conditions, offering them a safe, effective, and drug-free alternative to pain management. It complements our offerings of electrotherapy products, cervical traction, braces, cold/hot therapy and compression devices.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zynex-obtains-fda-clearance-for-new-pain-management-device-302236209.html

BioVie Application OKd for Phase 2 Trial to Evaluate Bezisterim in Long COVID

 Authorization expands use of bezisterim in a Phase 2, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial assessing bezisterim’s impact on neurological symptoms associated with long COVID

Key milestone reached ahead of schedule, with BioVie on track to receive additional $12.6 million of award from the U.S. Department of Defense and initiate the Phase 2 trial

Recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey estimated over 5% of U.S. adults currently have long COVID, and ~3.6 million people reported significantly modifying their activities because of illness

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biovie-announces-fda-authorization-investigational-120000163.html