Apple Inc and Google (Alphabet Inc) have globally suspended the review of user recordings that interact with their voice assistants, as concerns about data privacy increase. Apple said Friday that it had paused the program called “qualification,” where it reviewed anonymous recordings of conversations people had with their voice assistant Siri. The decision comes after The Guardian reported last week that the company contractors in charge of reviewing the recordings regularly listened to confidential information and private conversations. The greater public and political scrutiny of data privacy practices has forced greater transparency by Silicon Valley companies, with Google pausing audio recording reviews of its Google assistant service for all purposes in all languages, after a filtering of Dutch audio data.
Proposals considered by lawmakers in the United States and elsewhere would limit the way in which Internet companies track and distribute consumer information as voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa from Amazon.com Inc become a most important part of people’s daily lives. “While we are conducting a comprehensive review, we are suspending Siri’s worldwide rating,” an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement, adding that users may opt out of the program in a future software update. The contractors rated Siri’s responses to user inquiries as part of efforts to perform quality controls, The Guardian reported. They also analyzed whether the response was activated accidentally, the newspaper said.
Users can disable the storage of audio data in their Google account completely, or choose to automatically delete the data every three to 18 months, a Google spokeswoman told Reuters. Amazon also said it allows users to opt out of using their voice recordings to help develop new Alexa features. The company will update the information provided to customers to clarify the practices, an Amazon spokeswoman said in a statement sent via email. Microsoft Corp did not immediately respond to a request for comments on the status of revisions by its voice assistant Cortana.
