4 ms·

That's a pretty incredible claim, you got a source on that? My searches can't find anything.

mikewhy 7y ago
While not this exact claim, years ago I wrote an app for a TV show to detect ultrasonic tones embedded in episodes of the show. While not solely for tracking (it was to sync a clock to the episode you're watching), there were special tones to trigger ads. I could easily see this being expanded upon and included in a tracking SDK.
- rimliu 7y ago
  How did you get around the permission to use the microphone restriction? And if it is in use the status bar turns red on iOS.
  - layoutIfNeeded 7y ago
    >How did you get around the permission to use the microphone restriction? An app can already have recording permissions for legitimate reasons. >And if it is in use the status bar turns red on iOS. It only turns red if a background app is recording.
  - mikewhy 7y ago
    > How did you get around the permission to use the microphone restriction The app asked for permission as usual.
tomrod 7y ago
"Marketing Beacons": https://www.wired.com/2017/05/hundreds-apps-can-listen-beacons-cant-hear/ https://www.wired.com/2017/05/hundreds-apps-can-listen-beaco...
pmontra 7y ago
I can't help you about that but it reminds me of the Spanish Liga listening to their app to look for pubs that were illegally streaming their matches. https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/12/18662968/la-liga-app-illegal-soccer-streaming-fine https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/12/18662968/la-liga-app-ille...
salawat 7y ago
https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/416712/ https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/416712/ Not Nielsen related per se, but this technique has been circulating for at least a few years. That's a 2015 article.
rapnie 7y ago
The technology is called ultrasound cross-device tracking (uXDT) and companies like SilverPush are doing it. There is an ever-growing amount of android apps that contain this tech. DDG'ing should yield quite a bit of interesting articles about this practice.

While not this exact claim, years ago I wrote an app for a TV show to detect ultrasonic tones embedded in episodes of the show. While not solely for tracking (it was to sync a clock to the episode you're watching), there were special tones to trigger ads. I could easily see this being expanded upon and included in a tracking SDK.

rimliu 7y ago
How did you get around the permission to use the microphone restriction? And if it is in use the status bar turns red on iOS.
- layoutIfNeeded 7y ago
  >How did you get around the permission to use the microphone restriction? An app can already have recording permissions for legitimate reasons. >And if it is in use the status bar turns red on iOS. It only turns red if a background app is recording.
- mikewhy 7y ago
  > How did you get around the permission to use the microphone restriction The app asked for permission as usual.

tomrod 7y ago

"Marketing Beacons": https://www.wired.com/2017/05/hundreds-apps-can-listen-beacons-cant-hear/ https://www.wired.com/2017/05/hundreds-apps-can-listen-beaco...

pmontra 7y ago

I can't help you about that but it reminds me of the Spanish Liga listening to their app to look for pubs that were illegally streaming their matches. https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/12/18662968/la-liga-app-illegal-soccer-streaming-fine https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/12/18662968/la-liga-app-ille...

salawat 7y ago

https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/416712/ https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/416712/ Not Nielsen related per se, but this technique has been circulating for at least a few years. That's a 2015 article.

rapnie 7y ago

The technology is called ultrasound cross-device tracking (uXDT) and companies like SilverPush are doing it. There is an ever-growing amount of android apps that contain this tech. DDG'ing should yield quite a bit of interesting articles about this practice.