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Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella
- Microsoft contractors are listening in on Skype calls and recordings from its voice assistant Cortana, a report by Motherboard revealed on Wednesday.
- Privacy policies for both Skype and Cortana say that voice snippets may be analyzed to help improve the services. However, neither gives indication that the analysis would be conducted by a human contractor.
- News of Microsoft's practices comes after an industry-wide crackdown over the past month that's forced Apple, Google, and Amazon to re-think the way each handles human audio-reviews.
- Read the full Motherboard report here.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Microsoft contractors are listening in on recordings of Skype calls and interactions with the Cortana voice assistant, according to a report by Vice's Motherboard on Wednesday. The company described the effort to Business Insider as an effort to improve its AI-powered services.
With Skype - the voice-over-IP service Microsoft bought back in 2011 - the company is using human contractors, who often work from home, to analyze recordings of conversations taking place via the app's translation service, the report said. Contractors are also said to be reviewing voice commands from Cortana users, which can contain personal information, including home addresses and other sensitive details.
The privacy policies for both Skype and Cortana say that voice snippets may be analyzed to help improve these respective services. However, as Motherboard points out, there is no indication in either policy that the analysis would be conducted by a human contractor.
A company spokesperson told Business Insider that it "collects voice data to provide and improve voice-enabled services like search, voice commands, dictation or translation services. We strive to be transparent about our collection and use of voice data to ensure customers can make informed choices about when and how their voice data is used."
Here's Microsoft's full statement, from a spokesperson:
"Microsoft collects voice data to provide and improve voice-enabled services like search, voice commands, dictation or translation services. We strive to be transparent about our collection and use of voice data to ensure customers can make informed choices about when and how their voice data is used. Microsoft gets customers' permission before collecting and using their voice data. We also put in place several procedures designed to prioritize users' privacy before sharing this data with our vendors, including de-identifying data, requiring non-disclosure agreements with vendors and their employees, and requiring that vendors meet the high privacy standards set out in European law. We continue to review the way we handle voice data to ensure we make options as clear as possible to customers and provide strong privacy protections."
News of Microsoft's practices comes after an industry-wide crackdown over the past month that's forced Apple, Google, and Amazon to re-think the way each handles human audio-reviews. Amazon decided it would let users choose whether or not their audio recordings would be eligible for review. Apple and Google have both temporarily halted their review programs amid the increased scrutiny.
Read the full Motherboard report here.
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