Apple & Google trying to do some damage control
Big Techs have stopped third party contractors from listening to smart speaker voice recordings, but only temporarily
Data privacy issues have become a sticking point for the users of the smart speaker systems by companies like Amazon, Google & Apple. The former two had already been caught for letting the personal recordings of the users be reviewed by humans. More recently a whistleblower revealed that Apple was doing the same with its digital assistant Siri’s recordings.
The company was quick to dismiss the allegation saying that a very small portion of the recordings was analyzed for the sole purpose of improving the service. Nevertheless, Apple which took pride in being the best among the big techs on account of data privacy received sharp criticism and backlash from the users.
To asses the data privacy policy and take stock of the situation, Apple has now suspended the program temporarily across the globe, while it works to review the quality control process and offers a software update to its users to opt-out from the process.
Amazon was the first company guilty of “spying” on its users' personal recordings through Alexa. Despite scathing criticism from different circles the e-commerce giant has yet to address the situation, let alone say that it would change the practice any time soon.
Google, who was also caught sharing the voice recording with contractors earlier has also suspended its program but the dynamics of this decision are a little different. The decision only applies to the European Union where strict data privacy laws under the GDPR regulation are enforced. What’s worse is the fact that Google only did this after 1,000 personal audio recordings of the customers were leaked to a Belgian news site resulting in an investigation by the German authorities.
Although it is troubling enough that these tech giants were letting private contractors listen to their users' very personal recordings, implementing something like this without considering the implications is scary. While Apple took immediate steps before the issue got out of hand, Google barely made a big deal out of it until it was caught in the act. And as for Amazon… well, seems it doesn’t really care!
As if this wasn’t bad enough, the Pentagon in the U.S has launched mass surveillance balloons over the Mid Western states to monitor the flow of people & vehicles. Although the stated purpose is to deter drug trafficking in the area, The Guardian reports that everyone will be subjected to sweeping surveillance without prior consent.
25 solar-powered balloons will take part in this and the experiment will run through to Septemeber. The Civil Liberties groups have voiced their extreme reservations about the experiment saying it is a grave violation of the human right to privacy. I guess we are entering a new age where privacy will soon become a luxury, which not everybody can afford.
