Amazon and Google listen to your voice recordings. Here is what we know about it



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The smart speakers Google Home Mini and Amazon Echo Dot.

Tyler Lizenby / CNET

Since Alexa and Google Assistant have appeared on the scene and started populating homes of people with smart speakers and other gadgets equipped with permanent listening microphones, the People wondered if anyone else their choice AI assistant was listening to.

Well, the answer is yes – both Amazon and Google admitted to hiring subcontractors to listen to anonymous user audio extracts in order to improve the capabilities of their respective assistants.

Read more: Yes, the robot dog has eaten your privacy

It might have seemed like an obvious assumption to some, but for many, it was an awakening. This is true not only for Amazon and Google, but for all gadgets and services that require the operation of our data. What do these companies do with our data? How do they protect it? Do they share with others?

What do Amazon and Google say

"We only annotate that a very small sample of Alexa voice recordings to enhance the customer experience," said an Amazon spokeswoman. told CNET in April. "For example, this information helps us to train our speech recognition and natural language comprehension systems, so Alexa can better understand your requests and ensure that the service works for everyone."

The spokesperson added that employees can not directly access information to identify people or accounts associated with records.

"All information is treated with great confidentiality and we use multi-factor authentication to limit access, encryption of services and audits of our control environment to protect it," said the spokesman.

Meanwhile, Google associates all this with the complexity of creating a powerful multilingual voice assistant.

"As part of our work to develop speech technology for more languages, we work in partnership with language experts from around the world who understand the nuances and accents of a specific language," he said. David Monsees, product manager of Google Search, in an article published Thursday. "These language experts are reviewing and transcribing a small number of queries to help us better understand these languages, and it is an essential part of the speech technology development process, which is essential for creating products. such as Google Assistant. "

Google adds that the audio samples that these providers listen to represent approximately 0.2% of all recordings and that the user account details are not associated with them.

"Reviewers are asked not to transcribe background conversations or other noises, but only to transcribe the excerpt that is directed to Google," said Monsees.

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Always-tuned gadgets equipped with Alexa or Google Assistant, like this Lenovo Smart Clock, are looking for a place in almost every room in our home.

Chris Monroe / CNET

0.2% – that's it?

The Google blog post specifically deals with the audio that critics listen to in order to help Google Assistant master various languages, dialects and accents. But are there other purposes for which Google or its subcontractors listen to the sound of the user?

I asked this specific question to Google, but a company spokesperson did not answer. Instead, they reiterated that language experts examined about 0.2% of all audio snippets. The spokesperson did not specify whether or not Google was using any other audio listening features apart from those described in the Monsees blog – the details provided by Google only after the launch. one of these language experts has provided more than a thousand VRT based in Belgium recordings of people using Google Home's smart speakers and the Google Assistant app.

Have I again asked: Are Monsees language experts describing the only Google contractors or employees who listen to the sound of the user? The spokesman referred me to Google's privacy policy, which reads as follows:

"We limit access to personal information to Google's employees, contractors and agents who need this information to process it, and anyone who benefits from this access is subject to strict confidentiality and confidentiality obligations. Subject to disciplinary action or may be terminated if it does not respect them. "

As for Amazon, the Alexa FAQ page reads as follows:

"… we use your requests to Alexa to train our voice recognition and natural language comprehension systems.The more data we use to form these systems, the more Alexa works well and the Alexa training with records Voices from a wide range of customers helps Alexa work well for everyone. "

That said, a spokeswoman for Amazon said that the percentage of audio recordings that the company listens to and transcribes is very small and similar to what Google corrects.

"We are annotating a fraction of 1% of the interactions of a random group of customers in order to improve the Alexa experience for customers," the spokesman said.

As with Google, I've also asked if there were any other instances outside which Amazon employees would listen to a user's audio recordings. Amazon's answer: "No"

What about third parties? Are my voice data shared?

Good question. Let's start with Google.

The company publishes a multitude of articles on its approach to privacy for various Google services. There is a lot to go for clear answers. In some cases, the text is confusing.

An instance appears on a Google Nest Services page describing the company's privacy commitment, which is a separate page from Google's privacy policy or its assistant. Google explains that the guide is there "to explain as clearly and simply as possible the operation of our connected home devices and services, as well as how we will respect our commitment to respect your privacy."

A few paragraphs later, the page reads as follows:

"… we are committed to ensuring that, for all our connected home devices and services, we keep your video footage, audio recordings and home environment sensor readings separate from advertising, and we We will not use this data for ad customization – if you interact with your assistant, we can use these interactions to inform your interests of ad customization. "

Reread, these sentences seem to contradict each other. Google will not use audio recordings for ad customization, but when using the wizard, Google may use these interactions "to inform your interest centers for ad customization" . So what is it? Does using the Google Assistant have an impact on the ads you see or not?

Not long after, the article refers you to Google's overall privacy policy for more details. Click and scroll the screen to find a section on ads that reads as follows:

"We do not share information that personally identifies you with advertisers, such as your name or email address, unless you ask us, for example, if you see an ad for a nearby flower shop and you select the "touch to call" button, we will connect your call and share your phone number with the flower shop. "

What does this mean for Google Assistant audio recordings? If I ask where is the nearest flower shop, will I be added to an anonymous list of people who may be interested in buying flowers? Will this list ever be communicated to a marketing company for the delivery of bouquets online which would then be marketed?

"Although we can use your interactions to inform your centers of interest for ad customization, this scenario would not happen," said a Google spokesman. "A third party could not send you a coupon based on your interaction with the wizard."

"We do not sell your personal information to anyone," the spokesman added. "This includes your assistant's queries or the interests derived from those queries with advertisers."

A user with a question like mine can refer to the privacy section of the Google Nest support page, which reads: "In certain circumstances, we share information with third parties, who are included in Google's privacy policy. "

The problem is that Google's privacy policy does not really help with device-specific issues. In fact, Google's privacy policy includes the word "voice" only once, as part of the "activity information" list collected by Google (which is 39, is also the only place in the policy that mentions the word "audio"). In the meantime, the policy does not include the words "microphone", http://www.cnet.com/ "records" or "wizard".

"User control is very important to us," said the Google spokesperson, adding that "you can always check your Google settings to control the ads you see, including completely disabling their customization.

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An article in Amazon titled "Alexa, Echo Devices and Your Privacy" makes no mention of Amazon's subcontractors listening to your recordings and does not specify whether your data is shared with third parties.

Chris Monroe / CNET

What about Amazon?

"No audio recording is shared with third parties," said an Amazon spokesperson. "If you use a third party service via Alexa, we will exchange related information with that third party so that it can provide the service, for example, if you interact with a third-party Alexa skill, we provide the content of your requests (but voice recordings) to the competence so that it can react accordingly. "

Like Google, Amazon offers a page on the current issues related to Alexa's privacy, which is separate from the general terms of use of Alexa. It's concise, it only contains about 400 words, and there's no mention of Amazon employees or subcontractors who would listen to your recordings. There is also nothing about whether or not Amazon shares your data or records with third parties.

These are two of the most common privacy issues that Alexa faces today. An article titled "Alexa, Echo Devices and Your Privacy" should address them.

The same goes for the Alexa FAQ page of Amazon. In addition to not providing the same information that Amazon had given us in April about the timing and reasons why subcontractors could listen to your Alexa audio, the FAQ does not provide a clear answer on the type of Alexa data that Amazon could share with advertisers.

The only reference to advertisements in the FAQ is the general statement "We do not sell children's personal information for advertising or other purposes", as well as a link to the disclosure of personal information of 39, Amazon by Amazon.

Alexa does not mention much of Amazon's privacy page, except for a reference to "Alexa internet" in a long paragraph listing the types of data collected by Amazon. However, the page describes Amazon's approach to sharing information that it collects with third parties. This includes the sharing of information for the purpose of promotional offers.

"Sometimes we send offers to selected groups of Amazon.com customers on behalf of other companies, and when we do, we do not give that company your name and address," reads page.

A spokesperson for Amazon explained in more detail how your use of Alexa could affect the ads you see and the controls you have on them.

"The experience on Alexa is similar to the one you would see on the Amazon website or application," the spokesman said. "For example, if you make a purchase via Alexa shopping, this purchase can be used to create personalized ads, similar to the ones you would see if you bought something from the website, you can opt out of receiving any more. personalized ads from Amazon at the address at any time. "

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Voice assistants offer utility and convenience, but not without compromise.

Josh Miller / CNET

Should I throw these things out the window?

This seems excessive. I do not blame anyone who does not want to fill his house with cameras and microphones, but I do not blame anyone either who is willing to exchange some of his data with a company with which they feel at home. comfortable to bring new comfort and utility into their lives. It is almost impossible to navigate in our day without doing such trades every day.

In the meantime, I think the right way to think about this is to assume that everything you say to your digital assistant might very well be heard by someone else in the future. After all, these companies collect and keep voice recordings and transcripts, in some cases indefinitely. This is not for your benefit, it is for theirs.

The real question with all this is whether your privacy is aggrieved or not. Personally, I'm not afraid of an Amazon or Google entrepreneur listening to an anonymous recording of me saying "close the dining room" to try to understand why the assistant thought I had said "turn off the dynamo". It sounds like how a Sony employee could review the use of my PlayStation after blocking a game to understand what was wrong and prevent it from happening again.

The difference is that when my video game crashes, my PS4 ask my permission take a look at the accident report. Amazon and Google claim that they do it too, but it is a blanket authorization that users blindly accept when they accept large user agreements during initial device setup. In our day, I would say that is not enough. At a minimum, a clearer language in the application when configuring indicating when, why and how other humans might eventually need to listen to your sound would probably help many users to feel better about touch "accept".

With regard to data sharing, companies such as Amazon and Google should also better describe their practices – not only in a dense legal language, buried in the heart of a different privacy statement, but in simple terms, easy to find. can really understand. They may be concerned that this may scare potential users of their platforms. If that's the case, then maybe this awakening should have been done a long time ago.


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