Android developers have received warnings from the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about including baked-in software in apps that spy on smartphones and tablets. App developers were warned about mobile apps that listen for signals in particular TV commercials without informing users. The spying software could even monitor television viewing habits when the app is not being used, in order to build a detailed list of TV content viewers watched on their mobile devices.

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Jessica Rich is director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. She explained that the mobile apps could listen in the background and collect data about consumers without informing them. Rich added that companies should inform people about what data is collected, how it is gathered, and with whom it is shared, according to Digital Trends.

Silverpush is the software the FTC is targeting. It uses "audio beacon" technology to pick up audio watermarks in TV ads that human ears cannot hear.

Silverpush collects background programming data to guess the audience size. It is used for advertising purposes and to connect cookie behavior tracking with TV programming habits, according to Apple Insider.

It is highly likely that more than the 12 app developers warned have baked Silverpush into mobile apps. Last November Addons Detector reported that it found 27 apps in Google Play Store that contained the Silverpush software development kit (SDK). 16 live apps with Silverpush were still on Play Store.  

The company behind the spying software has claimed Silverpush is not used in the US. It notes that it recommends developers to inform users that Silverpush apps could allow third-party monitoring of TV viewing.

Android owners should get some of the blame . When they download Silverpush apps from Google Play Store they give it a green light to use the Android handset's microphone.  

The FTC has recently been pushed by privacy advocates to make sure that mobile owners know about cross-device tracking methods being used.

Apple started making consumer privacy a key issue starting in 2011. It began reducing developers' access to the universally unique identifier (UUID) of iPhones. The company unveiled new device identifier tech in iOS 6 and an option to limit ad tracking.  

Here's how to turn on limit ad tracking on iPhones: