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Microsoft's entrepreneurs listened to the Xbox players' audio speaking at home to improve the console's voice control capabilities. One contractor states that most of the records examined were children.
According to the motherboard, former Microsoft subcontractors revealed that they had listened to Xbox video game players speaking at home to improve the voice recognition capabilities of the Xbox console. The entrepreneurs stated that records should only be activated when users say a voice command such as "Xbox" or "Hey Cortana", but that records are often triggered randomly.
A former subcontractor told Motherboard: "Xbox orders first appeared as outliers, then became about half of what we did before becoming most of what we did." The contractor stated that he had used Xbox audio data from 2014 to 2015. before the implementation of the Cortana system on Xbox consoles in 2016. The Xbox has voice control features since 2013 with the Kinect system.
Even in 2013, users worried about listening to their Xbox. Microsoft had then given them the assurance: "Kinect for Xbox 360 was designed and developed with strong privacy protections and the new Kinect will continue that commitment," said the former subcontractor. that most of the voices they listened to were children.
"Honestly, the content of the Xbox was a welcome respite. It was often the same games. Same DLC. The same types of orders, "they added. "" Xbox gives all games for free "or" Xbox Download [newest Minecraft skins pack]"Or something else," they added. The contractor would have been paid about $ 10 an hour for his work. The entrepreneur stated, "I sometimes heard" Xbox, tell Solas to heal, "or something similar, which would be an order for Dragon Age: Inquisition."
A current contractor said that accidental voice activations occurred less over time, but that they were still quite common. "Most of the Xbox stuff I remember was, of course, unintentional activations with people saying" No "to Cortana, because they were obviously playing and chatting normally," said the subtitle. current processing.
A spokesman for Microsoft commented on the problem:
We stopped revising any voice content taken on Xbox for product enhancement purposes several months ago, as we no longer thought it was necessary and we do not plan to restart those reviews. We sometimes review a small volume of voice recordings sent from one Xbox user to another when it is reported that a record has violated our Terms of Service and we need to investigate. This is done to ensure the security of the Xbox community and is clearly stated in our Xbox Terms of Service.
We have known for a long time that we collect voice data to improve voice services and that this data is sometimes reviewed by providers, "said a spokesman for Microsoft in an additional statement.
We have recently updated our privacy statement to clarify that users sometimes view this data as part of the product improvement process. We always obtain the authorization of the client before collecting voice data, we take measures to remove the identity of voice extracts examined to protect the privacy of individuals and we request that the processing of these data be subject to the standards of the strictest confidentiality of the law. At the same time, we are actively working on developing additional measures to give customers more transparency and more control over how their data is used to improve products.
This news is just the latest in a long series of revelations about high-tech companies and the audio data they collect from users. Breitbart News recently reported that Microsoft contractors were listening to personal conversations from Skype users who were using the application's translation service. According to the Skype website, the company reserves the right to analyze audio and phone calls via the translation feature of the application to improve the translation service. However, it is not noted that human workers will do some of these tests by listening to calls.
Lucas Nolan is a journalist for Breitbart News and covers issues of freedom of expression and censorship online. Follow him on Twitter @ LucasNolan or write to him at [email protected]
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