Microsoft Eavesdrops on Your Skype and Cortana Activity
A number of companies are starting to become wary of using real people to “improve” their digital assistants by watching what you say on your smart speaker or phone. I bet Microsoft will change this practice soon as well, but contractors may be listening to what you say to Skype Translator and Cortana right now.
According to Vice’s Motherboard , an unnamed contractor Microsoft was able to provide tapes of people using Skype’s translation feature , which are typically 5 to 10 seconds long, but are not limited to. To help Microsoft improve the capabilities of this feature, these contractors listen to what users have to say and select from a list of possible translations or, in some cases, provide their own.
When asked about this customization, Microsoft told Motherboard that the company is making these entries available through a secure online portal and is taking steps – not described – to remove any associated information that could be used to identify the user ex post facto. That said, that doesn’t stop people from revealing information about themselves (like their address) when they talk to a digital assistant like Cortana, and it doesn’t seem like there are any settings that prevent Microsoft contractors from analyzing such conversations. data.
According to Microsoft’s statement provided to the motherboard:
“Microsoft collects voice data to provide and improve voice services such as search, voice commands, dictation, or translation services. We strive to be transparent in the collection and use of voice data so that customers can make informed choices about when and how their voice data is used. Microsoft obtains customer approval before collecting and using their voice data. “
“We have also implemented several procedures designed to prioritize user privacy before sharing this data with our suppliers, including anonymizing data, requiring nondisclosure agreements with suppliers and their employees, and requiring suppliers to meet high confidentiality standards. in European law. We continue to rethink the way we handle voice data to make the options as clear as possible for customers and to ensure strong privacy protections. ”
Can you prevent Skype from sending what you say to Microsoft?
In short, no. At least when we published this article, I saw no indication in the Microsoft Privacy FAQ for Skype Translator that you can prevent the company from collecting voice data. The practice is outlined quite clearly:
“When you use Skype’s translation features, Skype collects and uses your conversations to help improve Microsoft products and services. To help translation and speech recognition technologies learn and develop, sentences and automatic transcriptions are analyzed and any corrections are made to our system to create more efficient services. To protect your privacy, conversations that are used to improve the product are indexed using alphanumeric identifiers that do not identify the participants in the conversation. ”
I say a few because Microsoft does not indicate in its FAQ that your speech is being analyzed by real people. In fact, this description almost implies that it is a completely mechanical process, which it is not – and it cannot be, since the machine will not be able to select the correct translation. The point is that a person has to train the system in order to become better.
I also haven’t seen any settings in the Skype for iOS app that would allow you to opt out of this “improvement” process, but it’s possible that Microsoft will change this approach in the future. It would be great to have a reject switch, or better yet, an opt- in switch to enable voice analysis.
What about Cortana?
As the Vice report notes, Cortana teams are also fair game for contractors. However, you can opt out of this practice. For this:
- Open the Settings app in Windows 10.
- Click on Privacy
- Click “Speech” in the left sidebar.
- Disable Internet Speech Recognition
Problem? Disabling this feature also affects Cortana hamstrings. You can still use a digital assistant to access information, but you won’t be able to talk to him or get him to respond to your commands.
Your best bet is to remind yourself to regularly review the Cortana voice data that Microsoft stores. To do this, go to your Microsoft account page and click the Privacy tab at the top. Scroll down to Voice Activity and click the View and Clear Voice Activity button. Find the “Clear Action” link in the upper right corner of the data list and click it. Delete everything.
I couldn’t get my details to clear, of course, but I hope you better luck.
Also note that this may still not prevent the Microsoft contractor from listening to what you told Cortana – it all depends on whether you delete this data before it is used to “improve a Microsoft feature.” We don’t know how long you have to delete your records before Microsoft uses them for anything else, or even if that process deletes the one and only copy of the record. It is of course possible that Microsoft will just copy what you said, “anonymize” it and use it instead.
Ultimately, not using the services that handle your voice on the company’s servers is the best way to ensure that no one else hears what you said, but this is a compromise we make for convenience in today’s digital world. If you want your digital assistant or app to understand what you are saying and act on that information, you will have to give up your privacy a little in order to benefit from it. At least that is until more and more companies realize that it is important to give customers a choice as to whether they want their speech to be potentially processed by another person.