Penalty Amount
$930,000
The FTC alleged that Cox Media Group (CMG), MindSift LLC, and 1010 Digital Works LLC deceived customers by falsely claiming to offer an AI-powered 'Active Listening' service that could target ads based on conversations captured from consumers' smart devices, and that consumers had opted into such targeting. In reality, the service did not use voice data and consumers had not consented. The companies agreed to pay a total of $930,000 and are prohibited from making misrepresentations about their services, voice data collection, and consumer consent.
CMG must pay $880,000, MindSift and 1010 Digital Works each pay $25,000, totaling $930,000 for consumer redress. All defendants are prohibited from misrepresenting the qualities or features of their advertising services, the collection and use of voice data, consumer consent, and geographic targeting capabilities.
In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements with marketing and data broker partners to ensure that any claims about AI-powered services, voice data collection, or consumer consent are accurate and substantiated. Specifically, contracts should include representations and warranties that services do not rely on unauthorized data collection, that any claimed consumer consent is obtained through proper opt-in mechanisms (not merely terms of service acceptance), and that data sourcing (e.g., email lists) is transparent and compliant with privacy laws. Clauses related to data processing, consent, and audit rights should be strengthened to prevent deceptive marketing practices and to ensure vendors do not resell data without proper authorization.
Entity
Cox Media Group
Industry
AdvertisingOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/05/ftc-require-cox-media-group-two-other-firms-pay-nearly-1-million-settle-charges-they-deceived
CMGComplaintwithoutsignatures
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/CMGComplaintwithoutsignatures.pdf
Mindsift Complaint withoutsignatures
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Mindsift-Complaint-withoutsignatures.pdf
1010digitalworksllccomplaintwithoutsignatures
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/1010digitalworksllccomplaintwithoutsignatures.pdf
CMGDecisionandOrderwithoutsignatures
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/CMGDecisionandOrderwithoutsignatures.pdf
Mindsift DecisionandOrder withoutsignatures
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/Mindsift-DecisionandOrder-withoutsignatures.pdf
1010digitalworksllcdecisionandorderwithoutsignatures
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/1010digitalworksllcdecisionandorderwithoutsignatures.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Cox Media Group (CMG)"
"pay a total of $930,000"
"Section 5 of the FTC Act"
"deceived customers by falsely claiming to offer an AI-powered service that could target localized ads based on conversations captured from consumers’ smart devices and that consumers had opted into such targeting"
"the marketing service wasn’t based on voice data and consumers hadn’t opted into this service"
"CMG must pay $880,000 while both MindSift and 1010 Digital Works will each pay $25,000"
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$1.9M
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