Listening Back

This extension plays a synth sound whenever a cookie is written, overwritten or deleted.

Listening Back sonifies internet cookies in real time as you browse online. Every time a cookie is inserted onto your computer, deleted from your computer or overwritten a sound is triggered. Signature sounds have been designed for the most commonly browsed platforms, e.g. Google, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon and more. The options interface allows one to change the pitch and volume of the cookie data in real time. By translating cookies into sound Listening Back provides an audible presence for hidden infrastructures that collect personal and identifying data by storing a file on one’s computer. Listening Back therefore functions to expose real-time digital surveillance and consequently the ways in which our everyday relationships to being surveilled have become normalised. Enjoy!