HOW GOOGLE AND MICROSOFT HAVE
ALSO FALLEN FOUL
Perhaps unsurprisingly considering its large
share of the smart speaker market, Google also
hasn’t entirely escaped accusations of leaking
user data. Shortly before the Apple story broke,
the Belgian broadcaster VRT reported that
Google was hiring contractors of its own to
listen to voice recordings made by Google
Assistant. Addresses and other sensitive details
could be heard among over a thousand audio
clips that VRT heard, enabling it to easily track
down the users in question.
Like Apple, Google is using such recordings
to ultimately enhance the experience of
using its virtual assistant. However, for 153
of the recorded conversations that VRT
heard, the command that is supposed to get
Google Assistant listening, “Okay Google”,
was not discernibly given. As a result, many
conversations, including those between
parents and children and blazing rows, were
recorded unintentionally – as were professional
phone calls rich in private information.
Meanwhile, according to a VICE report,
human workers hired by Microsoft have been
transcribing audio captured by its own virtual
assistant, Cortana. The site has obtained a
cache of leaked documents shedding light on
how these workers handle the data. Worryingly,
one document asks contractors to transcribe
even mispronounced instances of “Cortana”,
such as “Cortona” and “Cortina”, due to the
Redmond corporation’s belief that Cortana’s
activation was intended.