Cox Media Group and two marketing companies were fined by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for claiming they could use phones and smart devices to listen to conversations for targeted advertising. The companies promoted a service called “Active Listening,” which they said could detect what people were talking about and deliver personalized ads. Their marketing materials suggested everyday conversations could be turned into advertising data. According to the FTC, investigators found no evidence that the companies were actually spying on people through phone microphones at a large scale. Regulators said the businesses mainly relied on ordinary consumer data and made misleading claims about advanced listening technology. As part of the settlement, Cox Media Group agreed to pay around $880,000, while MindSift and 1010 Digital Works also paid fines. The companies can no longer make unsupported claims about collecting voice data or having user consent.