14 DAY TRIAL // Independent contractors working for Apple listen to Siri recordings, occasionally intercepting sensitive or private conversations. This is not new, but the actual numbers should give anyone pause for thought.
Thanks to investigative reporting, we now know that pretty much all of the major tech companies (and others that we don’t know about) have been listening to private recordings made with the help of their services and hardware.
We also have to say that, for the most part, all of these companies like Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook, weren’t actually doing something illegal, or at least this is what they were claiming. For example, Microsoft explains that their EULA covers this type of interaction when the user agrees to send data back so that it can be used in further development.
This might be a necessary evil
The reason cited by all companies, and which is most likely true, is that they need to train their AI services. In the case of Apple, Siri is the one that needs training. The artificial intelligence of today can’t learn anything new without the help of humans, and this is where independent contractors come into play.
According to a report from the Irish Examiner, the scope of the listening operating was unveiled. The recordings were analyzed was done by a British company named Globetech, and its employees had to listen to 1,000 recordings every day.
To their credit, Apple has suspended their contract with Globetech, although we have to keep in mind that they didn’t cut contact with the British firm. The problem is that they still need to analyze the recordings somehow.
Apple will likely make changes to how the recordings are made, and how the company informs users when such recordings are being sent and processed by outside parties.