“Ultrasonic cross-device tracking” embeds inaudible tones in advertisements
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Re: “Ultrasonic cross-device tracking” embeds inaudible tones in advertisements
#2I know it's Ars, but there has to be a better link with more detail than "here's a thing some people might be doing, somewhere."
Re: “Ultrasonic cross-device tracking” embeds inaudible tones in advertisements
#3I know it's Ars, but there has to be a better link with more detail than "here's a thing some people might be doing, somewhere."
Take a look at Chirp: http://www.chirp.io/
Edit: In Firefox it seems this website is constantly playing audio. I think it is using a WebSocket to do this. Since I don't hear a thing I'm not sure what is going on here.
Re: “Ultrasonic cross-device tracking” embeds inaudible tones in advertisements
#4Perhaps a tin foil hat would also work?
Re: “Ultrasonic cross-device tracking” embeds inaudible tones in advertisements
#5Perhaps a tin foil hat would also work?
unlikely, it barely covers the head
Re: “Ultrasonic cross-device tracking” embeds inaudible tones in advertisements
#6anyone know of an app that can detect these signals?
Maybe decode them.
easiest way to block them is to know they are there in the first place.
i am suspicious that occasionally my laptop makes high pitch noise correlated to mouse movements when its running windows 10.
edit:Thinking about it. seems possible that might actually be facebook. never installed their phone app untill i had android 6 because it wants mic permissions (disabled) and facebook and reading hn is about all i use win 10 on the laptop for.
Re: “Ultrasonic cross-device tracking” embeds inaudible tones in advertisements
#7anyone know of an app that can detect these signals? Maybe decode them. easiest way to block them is to know they are there in the first place. i am suspicious that occasionally my laptop makes high pitch noise correlated to mouse movements when its running windows 10. edit:Thinking about it. seems possible that might actually be facebook. never installed their phone app untill i had android 6 because it wants mic pe…
You most probably have some "coil whine"[1]. It's very unlikely that you are hearing ultrasonic signals (disclaimer: I'm no expert).
Re: “Ultrasonic cross-device tracking” embeds inaudible tones in advertisements
#8Perhaps a tin foil hat would also work?
The acoustic attenuation of aluminum is good, but it would serve minimal use as a hat. If used as a sack instead of a hat, both sonic and micro waves might be reduced, which is probably better than wearing such stiff apparel.
Re: “Ultrasonic cross-device tracking” embeds inaudible tones in advertisements
#9anyone know of an app that can detect these signals? Maybe decode them. easiest way to block them is to know they are there in the first place. i am suspicious that occasionally my laptop makes high pitch noise correlated to mouse movements when its running windows 10. edit:Thinking about it. seems possible that might actually be facebook. never installed their phone app untill i had android 6 because it wants mic pe…
That is just electromagnetic interference.
Re: “Ultrasonic cross-device tracking” embeds inaudible tones in advertisements
#10Sorry but I found this to be very disappointing scarebait from Ars, who I expected to have higher standards. It doesn't explain how common this is yet the title makes it sound like it's super prevalent. (not to mention we're already being tracked in other ways that are worth worrying about more) It does a horrible job at explaining what's actually going on and why advertisers might use this instead of alternatives, in fact I still don't know. (something about every ad containing ultrasonic sounds and everyone making their app use the microphone to constantly listen for them—I get that it's a real thing but sounds way too contrived and complicated to be common) The title is also super clickbait and I wouldn't characterize it as the good type of FUD. The solution they propose is a proof-of-concept patch, so not an actual functioning solution (and their extension is supposed to block ultrasonic frequencies, but advertisers will just move to audible frequencies then and mask it as music). Even if they improved the title, the article itself is flawed and is predicated on making us scared of this, even having the gall to say "Now that you’re sufficiently concerned". C'mon Ars... I get wanting to point out troubling practices and increasing awareness, but at least do it in a less knee-jerk and more informative manner.