In 2015 we learned enough about SilverPush to worry security wonks about its ability to track your phone without your knowledge.  Several hundred apps available on the Google Play store have SilverPush and do not inform users that the apps utilize that software to track your whereabouts without your knowledge which would seem to be in direct contravention of Google's stated requirements.  That is more upsetting than the actual tracking.

SilverPush laden apps listen for tones broadcast at 18kHz to 20kHz which is inaudible to the vast majority of humanity.  When they receive that tone the app which has SilverPush sends out a signal which can be used to locate you, to track your progress through a store or to verify that you are watching a particular advertisement.  The creators of the software stopped development back in 2015 and have found this revelation rather confusing according to Ars Technica.

"Almost a year after app developer SilverPush vowed to kill its privacy-threatening software that used inaudible sound embedded into TV commercials to covertly track phone users, the technology is more popular than ever, with more than 200 Android apps that have been downloaded millions of times from the official Google Play market, according to a recently published research paper."

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