Microsoft contractors, tasked with improving the translation feature in Skype, are listening to clips from some Skype calls according to Motherboard.
The unnamed whistleblower - who passed on documents and audio clips of calls - told Motherboard that Microsoft brings hires contractors to help improve the AI of its real-time language translation service, Skype Translator.
The AI aspect of Translator gets a helping hand from humans who test and improve the accuracy of translations. In a statement to Motherboard, Microsoft argues that this is necessary improve the quality of the service.
As you’d expect, some of the calls and clips that fall into laps of quality control contractors include extremely personal conversations, as Motherboard’s source explains.
"Some stuff I've heard could clearly be described as phone sex. I've heard people entering full addresses in Cortana commands, or asking Cortana to provide search returns on pornography queries. While I don't know exactly what one could do with this information, it seems odd to me that it isn't being handled in a more controlled environment".
Check out my project Misinformer: a gripping detective game based on real investigative journalism.
As the source mentions, Cortana spoken requests and searches are reviewed by humans too. Whilst Microsoft does admit that Translator data is recorded and stored, it doesn’t make it immediately clear in its privacy policy that workers are listening to your audio clips. It does intimate it with some careful wording, though.
“To help the translation and speech recognition technology learn and grow, sentences and automatic transcripts are analyzed and any corrections are entered into our system, to build more performant services.”
The data captured and sent - securely - to reviewers isn’t identifiable according to Microsoft, but as the source explains, that may not matter to whoever’s personal moments are being listened to by strangers.
Microsoft now joins Apple, Google and Amazon in being caught out for using humans to improve AI via private audio snippets. Two weeks ago, a whistleblower speaking to the Guardian revealed that accidental activation of Apple’s Siri resulted in recordings of private moments being sent to contractors tasked with improving the AI service. Apple, too, hadn’t made it clear that humans were checking some of this data. The Cupertino-based company responded to the Guardian’s report by suspending the programme until it had conducted a “thorough review”.
More on Forbes
Here's How Amazon's Ring Doorbell Police Partnership Affects You
Apple Contractors Hear "Sexual Acts" On Accidental Siri Recordings
