Food delivery apps Meituan and Ele.me deny eavesdropping claim

China's food delivery apps Meituan and Ele.me denied eavesdropping on customers through mobile phone microphones to provide targeted ads, said Beijing Daily on Tuesday.

Some media earlier reported that the two food delivery giants can suggest precisely food or restaurants to customers after customers talk about it, which aroused suspicion that the apps were programmed to listen to audio through phone's microphone without permission.

Meituan said the app only uses the phone's microphone when the users start speech input, adding it does not do eavesdropping.

Ele.me said the app doesn't have such eavesdropping programming and the company doesn't own the related technology to implement it.

Any information is collected after the users agree to it, added Ele.me.