Silverpush, a startup that’s just received $1.25M in venture capital, uses ultrasonic chirps that are emitted by apps, websites, and TV commercials to combine the identities associated with different devices (tablets, phones, computers, etc), so that your activity on all of them can be aggregated and sold to marketers.
Silverpush is one of several startups pursuing this approach – others include Drawbridge, and Flurry, as well as the giant Adobe. The apps rely on software that covertly runs on your devices, listening for the chirps. Many companies are apparently using this technology already.
In comments filed with the FTC, the Center for Democracy and Technology raised a warning about these technologies and the ways in which they compromise user privacy. They point out that Silverpush is designed to run with no way of opting out, and no notification of how your data is being used.
I don’t understand how you could call this anything but malware.
