Tech giants have been accused of using smart speakers to snoop on radio listeners in a bid to improve their own streaming services.
Radiocentre, which represents commercial UK radio stations, warned that Amazon, Google and Apple were using non-public data from broadcasters to help launch and develop radio-like services.
Matt Payton, chief executive of Radiocentre, said: “The platforms, because they’re the gatekeepers and they have access to a lot of this data, they can develop a similar service but with more information and more data in order to shape it.”
Industry bosses fear the tech giants, which all make smart speakers, could harness their access to data – such as listener demographics, voice commands used and when they switch stations – to improve their services or provide targeted advertising.
Amazon and Apple have both rolled out personalised radio stations on their music streaming services, offering individualised playlists based on a listener’s taste in songs, artists or genres.
While Mr Payton insisted that radio stations had not seen a large impact so far, he warned: “We’ve observed how these platforms behave and it’s a concern that we don’t believe is sufficiently covered.”
Under new laws drawn up as part of the Media Act last year, Ofcom is consulting on plans to protect the availability of online radio streams via smart speakers – also known as radio selection services (RSS).
The regulator has sought industry views on what software should be covered by the new rules and has proposed to include Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri.
While commercial radio stations said they supported the plans, they called for greater protections against tech giants, which they accused of trying to muscle in on traditional radio.
Tech giants have frequently been accused of incorporating features from popular third-party apps into their own services, rendering those apps obsolete. It is a phenomenon known as “Sherlocking”, stemming from a now-defunct Apple search tool called Sherlock which made the rival app Watson redundant.
Radiocentre called for broadcasters to be handed access to their own user data when listeners tune in via smart speakers.
In its submission to Ofcom, the industry group also raised concerns about a lack of protection from tech firms prioritising their own services on smart speakers.
The Media Act includes rules dictating that licensed UK radio stations must be easily discoverable on smart speakers, while also banning tech companies from interrupting radio broadcasts with their own adverts.
