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Re:FTC Issues Warning Letters to App Developers Using ‘Silve... by a3n on Sunday March 20, 2016 @01:40PM (#11323796)
It would be cool to have an app that could alert you to the production of these sounds. Then you could complain to the station/channel, and to the FTC. Complaint to the FTC, with recorded evidence, could be included in the app.

It would be cooler still if the FTC made this app available.

Re:FTC Issues Warning Letters to App Developers Using ‘Silve... by cbhl on Sunday March 20, 2016 @01:45PM (#11323815)
There are benign use-cases for this technology, though. For example, any TV/Radio ads containing the phrases "Hey Siri", "OK Google", or "Alexa" definitely should contain an audio beacon so that your iPhone/Android/Amazon Echo knows that a TV or Radio ad is playing, and not a human legitimately asking for a command.
Re:FTC Issues Warning Letters to App Developers Using ‘Silve... by teddyh on Sunday March 20, 2016 @02:08PM (#11323917)
…cue someone playing that inaudible signal continuously to block all people nearby using their Siri or what have you.
Re:FTC Issues Warning Letters to App Developers Using ‘Silve... by dsharlet on Sunday March 20, 2016 @06:28PM (#11324995)
That's a really bad way to solve that problem, it relies on other systems following a protocol that they have no reason to even know exists.

A much better way to solve it, which is already being done (to some degree of success) is to calibrate the phrase detection to the owner's unique voice.

Re:FTC Issues Warning Letters to App Developers Using ‘Silve... by creade on Monday March 21, 2016 @12:00AM (#11326159)
Reminds me of this namshub: https://youtu.be/xuGDhZorlQ0?t=23
Re:FTC Issues Warning Letters to App Developers Using ‘Silve... by pekk on Sunday March 20, 2016 @02:11PM (#11323935)
Complain about what? Are the marker noises hurting your ears more than the commercials themselves?
Re:FTC Issues Warning Letters to App Developers Using ‘Silve... by a3n on Sunday March 20, 2016 @02:36PM (#11324040)
Complain about the surveillance, hidden in an app I installed without any thought of that surveillance.

The same as I would complain about someone peering in my window from outside my house or through a long lense, which also doesn't physically hurt me.