Current Events in August 2018

A federal appeals court has blocked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from ending or limiting the Lifeline program, a subsidized telephone and internet plan for low-income consumers.

Lifeline, enacted in 1985, provides a subsidy to qualifying low-income consumers to make sure that all Americans have access to vital communications services. It began as a program to subsidize phone service but was later expanded to cover broadband internet.

The program is paid for by the small Universal Service Charge fund that is on every telephone bill and is available to eligible low-income consumers in every state, territory, commonwealth, and on Tribal lands.

But last November the FCC voted along party lines to make it harder for consumers living on rural Tribal lands to qualify for the $25 a month subsidy to offset the cost of internet services. It would have eliminated the subsidy for Tribal members living in cities. The changes were scheduled to take effect in October.

Tribes and small providers sue

A group of small internet service providers, along with the non-profit National Lifeline Association, sued the FCC, seeking to block the change. Last month it asked the agency to stay its order until the court case could be heard, but the FCC refused.

So the plaintiffs appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which did grant the stay, telling the FCC it could not proceed with its plans because, in the court's opinion, it was going to lose the case when it got before a judge.

"Petitioners have demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their arguments that the facilities-based and rural areas limitations contained in the Order are arbitrary and capricious," the court said. "In particular, petitioners contend that the Federal Communications Commission failed to account for a lack of alternative service providers for many tribal customers."

The justices also dismissed the FCC claims that making the subsidy harder to get would result in development of more broadband infrastructure in these underserved areas.

"On the contrary, petitioners credibly assert that providers have generally declined to offer Lifeline service in many tribal regions in the nearly two decades since the implementation of the Tribal Lifeline program, and furthermore that the Order’s new eligibility requirements do not attract providers to expand into those previously-ignored regions," they wrote.

FCC objects to Tribal members' choices

The FCC's main objection to the program seems to revolve around the choices Lifeline program participants make. The FCC pointed out that most program participants use the subsidy to obtain service from one of the discount resellers instead of purchasing the more expensive service from one of the four major carriers, who build and operate cellular networks.

The court order blocks the FCC from making changes to the Lifeline program until the case can be decided.

Wells Fargo is reportedly considering bolstering its shrinking student lending business by offering loans that let customers retire their government-backed student debt, Bloomberg reports.

Wells Fargo wants to extend its current offerings to include federal student loan refinancing. Previously, the bank offered only private student loan consolidation, in which a borrower with multiple Wells Fargo private student loans could consolidate them into a single loan or refinance any one of them.

“We continue to assess the needs of our customers on refinancing of federal loans into private,” Well Fargo’s Head of Personal Lending John Rasmussen told Bloomberg. “We’re sizing what that should look like, how we’d do that in a real customer-focused way.”

Building relationships with students

The move would help boost the lender’s student-loan portfolio, which was down to $11.5 billion at the end of June from $12.2 billion last year. Rasmussen cited numerous consumer scandals and accelerated loan repayments due to an improving economy as reasons for the smaller portfolio.

Although no final decision has been made yet, refinancing federal student loans could help Wells Fargo attract more college-aged consumers as customers and improve its reputation.

Earlier this month, Wells Fargo admitted to having wrongly foreclosed on hundreds of homes in the period between April 2010 and October 2015 due to a computing error caused by a mortgage underwriting tool. The bank said it put aside $8 million to repay the affected customers.

In a study published in the journal Frontiers of Neuroscience, a team of scientists at the University of Adelaide theorize that there could be a potential link between iron in our cells and rare genetic mutations that cause Alzheimer’s disease. The theory could provide areas for further research moving forward.

“For 20 years most scientists have believed that a small protein fragment, amyloid beta, causes Alzheimer’s disease,” said Michael Lardelli, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Adelaide. “Clearing out amyloid beta from the brains of people who are developing Alzheimer’s disease can slow their rate of cognitive decline. But, so far, nothing has been able to stop the relentless progression of the disease.”

Lardelli joined forces with Dr. Amanda Lumsden of South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and Dr. Morgan of the University of Adelaide. The Adelaide researchers focus on the study of the genes that cause Alzheimer’s upon mutation, while Dr. Lumsden has studied the biology of how cells use iron, the group’s background thus paving the way for the future of this study.

The theory

The core of the researchers’ theory lies in how neurons in our bodies handle iron, with deficiencies potentially causing the disease to flourish.

“Cells need iron to survive. In particular, iron is essential for the tiny powerhouses of all cells -- the mitochondria -- to generate most of the energy that keeps cells functioning,” said Lardelli. “The genes mutated in inherited Alzheimer’s disease seem likely to affect how iron enters neurons, how it is recycled within neurons, and how it is exported from neurons.

“Since neurons have such huge energy needs, disturbing the way they handle iron can have serious, long-term consequences. Furthermore, iron is a key player in inflammation and in the production of damaging molecules named ‘reactive oxygen species,’ and both occur at high levels in brains with Alzheimer’s disease.”

As the researchers’ theory only deals with the way cells handle iron -- not how much iron is in a person’s body -- they are urging people not to make any diet changes or take any supplements based on this theory.

Despite the findings from the study, more research is required to better understand how mutations related to Alzheimer’s affect cellular iron.

McDonald's and its franchisees are investing $6 billion on transforming most of its restaurants across the United States to reflect a more modern look, both inside and outside. The changes will include:

• Remodeled counters to allow for new table service

• Modernized dining rooms with new furniture and refreshed exterior designs

• Digital self-order kiosks

• New designated parking spots for curbside pickup for those who order on mobile

• Digital menu boards inside and at the drive-thru

• Expanded McCafé counters and larger display cases

• Partnering with Uber Eats for "McDelivery" at 5,000 locations

Hundreds of McDonald's restaurants in every state will see these changes implemented, if they haven’t already. California will see the most restaurants upgraded with an estimated $390 million being invested in that state.

Staying relevant

McDonald's says it serves 25 million customers worldwide every day. However, while many of its classic menu items are still popular, consumers in the U.S. are increasingly seeking out healthier fare.

As a result, the company is struggling to stay relevant. To meet changing consumer preferences, McDonald’s has added kale to its salad and fresh beef has replaced frozen beef patties in Quarter Pounders.

Some stores have also introduced digital and on-demand conveniences, such as ordering kiosks, food delivery, and barista-style cafes. Although the modernization effort includes the roll-out of self-order kiosks, the changes will not result in job losses, the company said.

“There will be no loss of employment and potentially an increase” in jobs, said Clay Paschen III, a franchisee who owns 16 McDonald’s restaurants in Ventura County, Calif. and employs nearly 1,000 people.

Paschen told the Los Angeles Times that there will be some shifts in duties because “we’re bringing the employees from behind the counter out front to engage, in a more personal way, with our customers.”

That tracker app you installed on your family members' smartphones may be providing more information than you think, and not just to you.

German researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute analyzed 19 legal tracker apps available in the Google Play Store. The researchers closely examined how the apps collect information and how they protect highly sensitive user data.

They concluded that all 19 apps revealed 37 major vulnerabilities, with none of the apps programmed with default security features in place.

The research team stresses that tracker apps have legitimate uses. Parents often use them to monitor their children's location and to see messages and pictures they post online. They're perfectly legal so long as the person being monitored is aware of it and agrees to it.

Data stored in plain text

The researchers take issue with these apps' security features, or rather the lack of them. They found that most apps store highly sensitive data on a server in plain text, without any type of encryption.

"We only had to open up a certain website and guess or enter a user name into the URL to retrieve an individual's movement profile," said Siegfried Rasthofer, who headed the project.

The researchers said they were able to read out complete movement profiles for all app users, not just the ones being monitored. They suggest this security flaw could allow thousands of people to be tracked in real time.

"It enables total surveillance," said Stephan Huber, a member of the research team.

Lack of proper encryption

The researchers said they were also able to read the app users' login information because the developers either used improper encryption or no encryption at all. In one app, the team was able to easily access 1.7 million login credentials.

The Fraunhofer researchers said they informed the app developers and the Google Play Store team of their findings. They say Google has removed 12 of the 19 apps from its store.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the marketing of the first app to prevent pregnancy. The app, called Natural Cycles, tracks a user’s body temperature and menstrual cycle to determine which days the user is likely to be fertile.

To use it, women take their body temperature using a basal thermometer immediately when waking up in the morning and enter it into the app. Natural Cycles uses this information to create a log to flag fertile days.

"Consumers are increasingly using digital health technologies to inform their everyday health decisions, and this new app can provide an effective method of contraception if it's used carefully and correctly," Terri Cornelison, assistant director for the health of women at the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.

"Perfect use" failure rate of 1.8 percent

However, the agency added, “women should know that no form of contraception works perfectly, so an unplanned pregnancy could still result from correct usage of this device.”

The FDA said in a press release that during clinical studies of 15,570 women who used the app for an average of eight months, the app had a “perfect use” failure rate of 1.8 percent. That means 1.8 in 100 women who use the app for one year will become pregnant.

The company said the app had a "typical use" failure rate of 6.5 percent, which accounted for women sometimes not using the app correctly. On its website, Natural Cycles says that typical use contraceptive failure could be due to reasons such as the app mistakenly saying a fertile day was a non-fertile day or a user having unprotected sex on a fertile day.

Reports of unplanned pregnancies

The app was approved last year by the European Medicines Agency, the European equivalent of the FDA. Its approval by the U.S. FDA comes with some controversy.

Last year, a hospital in Sweden reported the app to the country’s regulatory agency after finding that 37 women who became pregnant and obtained abortions from September to December had been using the Natural Cycles app as their main form of contraception.

Natural Cycles responded that these unplanned pregnancies should be seen as an example of the small failure rate expected with typical use. The company stressed that no form of birth control is considered to be 100 percent effective at preventing pregnancy.

More than 600,000 people subscribe to the app, which costs $10 per month or $80 per year. A yearly subscription comes with a high-sensitivity basal thermometer.

Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling five model year 2019 Jeep Cherokees and model year 2018 Chrysler Pacifica non-hybrids.

A component in the transmission may not have been welded properly, possibly causing the transmission to not transmit engine power to the wheels.

If the transmission weld fails, the vehicle will stop moving, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the transmission, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin September 14, 2018.

Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is U85.

When Bayer announced in June that it would pay $66 billion to purchase Monsanto, part of the deal entailed dropping the controversial Monsanto name. "We will listen to our critics and work together where we find common ground," Bayer chairman Werner Baumann said at the time, in a nod to the many food safety groups, public advocacy organizations, and others who have criticized Monsanto’s practices.

But Bayer didn’t actually shed Monsanto's products, notably its Roundup sprays that have increasingly dominated industrial agriculture, even as open questions remain about whether it poses a danger to consumers.

In the wake of a California jury’s recent $289 million verdict that Roundup poses a “substantial danger” to consumers, Bayer stocks plunged 14 percent, or $14 billion in value, reaching their lowest mark in more than five years.

Court rules in favor of consumers

Investors complained that Bayer was in for a “litigious headache.” In an interview with Bloomberg News, another investor described the verdict as potentially “ruinous.”

Dewayne Johnson’s case was only the first of thousands headed for a jury trial alleging that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is a carcinogen. Johnson, a 46-year-old father of two, said that he was exposed to Roundup during his work as a groundskeeper for a school district. His case was fast-tracked for trial because he is dying of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The jury on Friday unanimously ruled that Monsanto's Ranger Pro and Roundup products posed cancer-causing risks, that the company was aware of the risks, and that it failed to warn consumers like Johnson about the dangers. They awarded him $39.2 million in compensatory damages and an additional $250 million in punitive damages.

Bayer has indicated that it will appeal, describing the jury’s verdict as merely the “first step” in the legal process, and Monsanto released a statement shortly after vouching for the safety of Roundup.

Advocacy groups applaud verdict

The Center for Food Safety hailed the verdict as “a victory of medical science over corporate propaganda.” While federal agencies in the United States have generally sided with Monsanto, food safety groups and researchers have criticized federal policies that they say put the burden on consumers rather than corporations.

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an agency with associated with World Health Organization (WHO), determined that glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic." California lawmakers subsequently tried to put a label on Roundup products warning that they could cause cancer under Proposition 65, the state’s carcinogen labeling law, but Monsanto successfully sued to stop the state’s plans.

The jury’s ruling has stark health implications for the millions of American farmers who have increasingly relied on corporate mega-farms and heavy spraying of herbicides for their income, especially in the wake of the Bayer-Monsanto merger. The former competitors together now control an estimated 35 percent of corn seed market, 70 percent of the global cotton seed market, and 28 percent of soybean sales.

"Let's just cut to the chase: These companies want to make more money, they want to raise prices," an agricultural analyst recently told Business Insider.

As hand-wringing over dwindling pension trust funds and economic security continues to grow, many people are looking for ways to pump up their nest eggs. One investment angle that many consumers are working are self-directed Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

However, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is raising red flags about the risk vs. reward of that and other investment paths.

A self-directed IRA is an IRA held by a custodian that allows investment in a broader set of assets than permitted by most IRA custodians. There’s a danger zone in that scheme because custodians for self-directed IRAs can abandon most duties to investors, and they may allow investors to invest retirement funds in “alternative assets” such as real estate, promissory notes, tax lien certificates, and private placement securities.

In a new investor alert, the SEC advises that investments like self-funded IRAs have unique risks that should be taken into account. Topping that list are the lack of disclosure, heightened chances of fraud, and issues with liquidity.

“While a broader set of investment options may have appeal, investors should be mindful that investments in self-directed IRAs raise risks including fraudulent schemes, high fees, and volatile performance,” the SEC warned.

“Fraudsters may be more likely to exploit self-directed IRAs because custodians or trustees of these accounts may offer only limited protections. Custodians and trustees typically have only limited duties to investigate the assets or the background of the promoter.”

What to be on the lookout for

The SEC laid out the tricks fraudsters use to pull off a self-directed IRA fraud scheme. Some of those include:

• Fraudsters may misrepresent the duties of self-directed IRA custodians to hoodwink investors into believing their investments are lawful or protected against losses. For example, fraudsters might maintain that self-directed IRA custodians investigate and validate any investment in a self-directed IRA. In reality, self-directed IRA custodians are responsible only for holding and administering the assets in a self-directed IRA.

• It’s typical that self-directed IRA custodians don’t examine the quality or legitimacy of any investment in the self-directed IRA or the people that are promoting those investments. When someone signs off on a self-directed IRA, odds are the fine print states that the self-directed IRA custodian has no responsibility for investment performance.

• Self-directed IRAs usually carry a penalty for withdrawing money before a certain age. Having the prospect of that penalty hanging over an investor’s head often leads the investor to take a passive approach to managing the account which, in turn, can open up the possibility of the fraudster’s game lingering on indefinitely.

• Certain self-directed IRAs permit investment in “digital assets,” which include cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs). In a study of the “Best Bitcoin IRA Companies,” ConsumerAffairs talked to Jamie Hopkins, Associate Professor at The American College of Financial Services, who said that while digital currencies are here to stay, there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to investing.

Ask questions!

“Practice “M.O.M.” -- “My Own Money” -- when it comes to investments,” urged Evan Thurmond, Director of Portfolio Management at Lifetime Wealth Strategies in comments to ConsumerAffairs. “Don’t invest with someone who’s not willing to do the same with their own money.”

The investment landscape is littered with bad actors. Many of them pull the “friendship” con and prey on people close to retirement age.

One of the most recent cases of self-directed IRA fraud reported in Indiana is the case of Randell Morrison, who bilked 15 investors in Indiana out of $1.4 million.

“Randell Morrison preyed on those who considered him a friend. He didn’t just gamble with their life savings, he squandered their life savings,” said Charlie White, Indiana’s Secretary of State. Many of Morrison’s victims lost their entire retirement account and life savings, not to mention emotional and even physical distress thanks to the fraud.

The SEC has a publication called “Ask Questions” that lays out questions investors should ask of anyone who wants them to make an investment, including about the background and history of the promoter.

However, if you’re someone who thinks you’ve been taken on an investment joyride, be it a brokerage firm, investment adviser, or any other market participant, there are some possible remedies. To file a complaint, start by visiting the SEC’s complaint portal and reviewing what help is available.

Earlier this month, MoviePass announced that it would be dropping its all-you-can-watch for $9.95 per month plan and replacing it with a plan that allows three movies for $9.95 a month.

Now, the movie subscription service is forcing moviegoers to choose between just two movies a day, the New York Post reports.

On Friday, hours before the app crashed, consumers had to choose between “Slenderman” and “Mission Impossible: Fallout.” However, those not interested in seeing the horror film with less-than-stellar reviews didn’t have very good odds of securing the showtime they wanted.

At an AMC location in Times Square, Mission Impossible was only available at two showtimes for those using MoviePass: one in the mid-afternoon and the other at around 10:45 pm.

Maintaining financial stability

MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe confirmed the change in an interview with The Post and implied that the policy was only temporary and intended to stem its financial loss during the time before it moves to its three-movies-a-month plan in September.

“Unfortunately, in order to stay financially stable we’ve had to curtail the service,” Lowe said. “We had to right the ship as far as the amount of money we were burning.”

Lowe suggested that, over the next few weeks, subscribers may see the movie selection change throughout the day. He insisted that MoviePass wasn’t intentionally offering inconvenient showtimes.

“This has been a challenging time for us and our customers. We’re just trying to save our service to be able to be available long term,” he said.

The CEO said that investors were confident in the company’s new pricing plan but are waiting to see what percentage of customers were willing to continue to use the service under the new three-movies-per-month plan.

Consumers not interested in continuing to use MoviePass under the new policy have alternatives, including AMC’s $20-per-month service which lets users see three movies a week. Another option is Sinemia, which lets subscribers see three movies per month for $14.99 and requires a $19.95 initiation fee.

According to multiple news sites, Facebook news executive Campbell Brown reportedly had a message for publishers that didn’t want to work with the company: “I’ll be holding your hands with your dying business like a hospice.”

A Facebook spokesperson told CNBC that the comments were “taken out of context.”

“These quotes are simply not accurate and don’t reflect the discussion we had in the meeting,” Brown said in a statement. “We know there’s much more to do, but our goal at Facebook -- what the team works on everyday with publishers and reporters around the world -- is to help journalism succeed and thrive, both on our platform and off. That means a new focus on building sustainable business models, and that’s what this discussion was about.”

The Australian was the first news source to publish the story. Several news outlets have since picked up the quotes and confirmed them.

According to Nieman Lab, Brown was also quoted as saying, “We are not interested in talking to you about your traffic and referrals any more. That is the old world there is no going back.”

Nieman Lab reports this is perhaps the biggest reversal, as traffic and referrals made up the majority of what Facebook offered to publishers in recent years.

History with Brown

Brown is a former CNN prime-time host and NBC News Correspondent.

Back in February, she sat down with Recode and made similar statements. In the interview, Brown says “the nature of what Facebook is [means] news traffic will inherently fluctuate,” according to CNBC. Due to the site’s algorithm change at the end of last year and beginning of this year, many publishers have reported a significant drop in referral traffic from Facebook.

CNBC reported that Facebook has created several new initiatives and tools designed specifically for publishers in recent months. The goal is to help build a stronger subscriber base, as well as rid the site of the spread of misinformation and clickbait by prioritizing credible news sites.

A new investigation from the Associated Press (AP) revealed that many Google services on both iPhones and Androids store users’ location data even if the privacy settings are set to prevent it from doing so. After the AP requested a confirmation of these findings, computer-science researchers at Princeton found them to be accurate.

Many of Google’s apps and services require permission for users’ location information. For example, Google Maps requires users’ location in order to start navigating. Google Maps then stores users’ location history in a “timeline” feature that maps out users’ daily movements, should users grant the app permission to record their locations over time.

However, Google also allows location history to be “paused,” as the setting poses a number of privacy risks. According to Google’s support page, “You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored.”

Effect on users  

These privacy issues are affecting nearly two billion Android users and hundreds of millions of iPhone users who utilize Google for search or maps.

“If you’re going to allow users to turn off something called ‘Location History,’ then all the places where you maintain location history should be turned off,” said Jonathan Mayer, a Princeton computer scientist and former chief technologist for the Federal Communications Commission’s enforcement bureau. “That seems like a pretty straightforward position to have.”

However, Google is confident that its settings are clear for its users.

“There are a number of different ways that Google may use location to improve people’s experience, including: Location History, Web and App Activity, and through device-level Location Services,” said a Google spokesperson. “We provide clear descriptions of these tools, and robust controls so people can turn them on or off, and delete their histories at any time.”

Google’s Web and Activity App setting -- which is enabled by default on all devices -- stores users’ information to users’ Google apps and websites to Google accounts. Users can toggle the setting to be turned off, and that stops Google from saving location markers.

However, users that just turn off the Location History setting (and leave the Web and Activity App setting running) will only prevent Google from storing movements to a user’s “timeline.” This does not stop Google from collecting other location markers.

AP’s investigation

The AP’s investigation worked to uncover just how powerful Google’s other location markers can be for users. Princeton postdoctoral researcher Gunes Acar was the subject of the study, and the AP created a visual map of his movements as he moved around with his Android phone that had Location history turned off. Acar shared the record of his Google account.

According to The AP, “The map includes Acar’s train commute on two trips to New York and visits the High Line park, Chelsea Market, Hell’s Kitchen, Central Park, and Harlem. To protect his privacy, The AP didn’t plot the most telling and frequent marker -- his home address.”

Sean O’Brien, a Yale Privacy Lab researcher who received the findings from the investigation, believes it is “disingenuous” for Google to continuously record users’ locations -- even when users’ Location History is turned off.

“To me, it’s something that people should know,” he said.

If you're still using a fax machine, you're not only old fashioned, you're probably vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Researchers at Check Point, a cyber security firm, have uncovered vulnerabilities in the communication protocols used in tens of millions of fax devices. If the attacker has the fax number, that’s all they need to exploit the flaws and potentially seize control of a computer network.

Specifically, the Check Point researchers focused on the vulnerabilities in the popular HP Officejet Pro All-in-One fax printers. Its protocols are also used by other manufacturers' faxes and multi-function printers.

Check Point says the protocols are also employed in online fax services such as fax2email, and researchers say it is likely that these are also vulnerable to attack by the same method.

HP has already issued a patch

Once informed of the findings, Check Point says HP quickly developed a software patch for its printers, which is available here.

There are a reported 45 million fax machines still in use, both in homes and offices. The '80s technology is especially prevalent in healthcare, law offices, banking, and real estate, and these networks often contain vast amounts of sensitive data.

“Many companies may not even be aware they have a fax machine connected to their network, but fax capability is built into many multi-function office and home printers,” said Yaniv Balmas, Group Manager, Security Research at Check Point. “This groundbreaking research shows how these overlooked devices can be targeted by criminals and used to take over networks to breach data or disrupt operations."

Here's how it works

It's a fairly simple hack. Once the attacker obtains a fax number, they send an image file to the machine. Embedded within the image is a code that the machine recognizes, decodes, and uploads into its memory.

Check Point says this process gives the attacker the ability to break into any device that is connected to the fax's computer network.

Dom Chorafakis, founder of the cyber security consultancy Akouto, says the simplicity of the attack is what makes it so dangerous.

"The malware is embedded within a specially crafted [message] and delivered over the phone line via standard fax, so there are no defensive measures like firewalls or antivirus that can be put into place to prevent this attack," Chorafakis told ConsumerAffairs. "End users have to rely on equipment vendors to check their firmware and provide updates.

While these attacks can be hard to stop, there are a couple of ways to protect yourself before being targeted. First, check your machine's manufacturer for available firmware updates and apply them.

For businesses and organizations, the fax machine should be on a secure network segment separated from applications and servers that carry sensitive information. That will limit the ability of malware to spread across networks.

Spotify users without a paid subscription could soon have the ability to skip audio and video advertisements. The music streaming service has quietly rolled out the new feature, dubbed “Active Media,” to users of its free, ad-supported version in Australia.

Currently, only premium users have the ability to skip ads. The new feature would enable free users to choose whether they want to see or hear the ad or skip it entirely. Advertisers would only pay for completed views or listens and would benefit from knowing more about user preferences.

Spotify says its Active Media feature is the "first of its kind globally."

Ads tailored to users’ tastes

In an interview with Advertising Age, Danielle Lee, Spotify’s head of partner solutions, said the company believes users will only skip ads that are not of interest to them, which would allow Spotify to deliver only ads that consumers want to see or hear.

"Our hypothesis is if we can use this to fuel our streaming intelligence, and deliver a more personalized experience and a more engaging audience to our advertisers, it will improve the outcomes that we can deliver for brands," Lee said.

"Just as we create these personalized experiences like Discover Weekly, and the magic that brings to our consumers, we want to inject that concept into the advertising experience."

The company hasn’t said if or when the feature will be launched in markets beyond Australia.

In July, Spotify reported that it finished out the second quarter of the year with 180 million monthly active users -- a figure that represents an increase of 30 percent year-over-year. The company now has over 101 million ad-supported users in 65 markets globally. Its total ad revenue has reached $158 million, up 20 percent.