Amazon says it will let users opt out of human review of the voice recordings picked up by Alexa, following similar moves by Apple and Google
- Alexa reviewers transcribe, annotate some voice recordings — Apple, Google suspended human voice review programs this week
Bloomberg Matt Day
Related Coverage
- Amazon quietly adds ‘no human review’ option to Alexa settings as voice AIs face privacy scrutiny TechCrunch · Natasha Lomas
- Apple and Google temporarily stop listening to Siri and OK Google queries Ars Technica · Jon Brodkin
- How to keep Amazon and Google from listening to your Alexa and Assistant voice recordings TechHive
- Amazon follows in Apple's footsteps, will let users opt-out of human review of Alexa recordings 9to5Mac · Chance Miller
- Amazon's new opt-out keeps people from ‘reviewing’ your Alexa recordings Engadget · Richard Lawler
- Amazon will let you opt out of human review of Alexa recordings The Verge · Dieter Bohn
- Amazon, Google follow Apple's lead on voice assistant review policies AppleInsider · Mikey Campbell
- Amazon now lets you stop human review of your Alexa recordings CNET · Ben Fox Rubin
- Alexa users can now opt out of having Amazon workers listen to them talk Mashable · Adam Rosenberg
- Amazon adds Opt-out to Alexa voice recordings human review, and here's how to enable it MSPoweruser · Surur
- Earmuffs, Alexa! Amazon to let users opt out of human review of voice recordings, amid scrutiny GeekWire · Todd Bishop
- Amazon to let users opt out of human review of Alexa recordings The Hill · Tal Axelrod
- Amazon will now let Alexa users decide if they want the company to listen in on their conversations for testing purposes Business Insider · Nick Bastone
- Siri eavesdropping controversy underlines why Apple must be more transparent [Opinion] Cult of Mac · Luke Dormehl
- Google and Amazon follow Apple's lead on voice assistant grading policies MacDailyNews
- Apple halts Siri ‘grading’ program, promises opt-out in upcoming software update Macworld · Michael Simon
- Google contractors told to stop listening to conversations captured on your Home assistant … Graham Cluley
- Apple and Google have stopped letting humans listen to voice recordings MIT Technology Review · Karen Hao
- Hey, Apple! ‘Opt Out’ Is Useless. Let People Opt In Wired · Brian Barrett
- Apple halts practice of contractors listening in to users on Siri The Guardian · Alex Hern
- Amazon Really Doesn't Give a Shit, Huh? Gizmodo · Adam Clark Estes
- Apple to Halt Human Review of Siri Recordings PCMag · Rob Marvin
- Apple as Caesar's wife Philip Elmer‑DeWitt · Philip Elmer-DeWitt
- Apple stops letting contractors listen to Siri voice recordings and will offer opt-out later The Verge · Sam Byford
- How to delete all of the Siri recordings that Apple may have of you on Mac or iOS AppleInsider · Mike Wuerthele
- So Apple's going to stop listening in on your Siri requests. Now what? Macworld · Jason Cross
- Did you say, ‘Hey, Siri’? Apple and Amazon curtail human review of voice recordings. Washington Post
- Apple suspends program that let its employees listen to your Siri recordings CNBC · Todd Haselton
- There's a privacy explanation for why Apple doesn't let you delete Siri recordings CNET · Alfred Ng
- I will opt-in to help Apple improve Siri The Loop · Jim Dalrymple
- Apple and Google Suspend Listening to Audio Recorded by Virtual Assistants Fortune · Xavier Harding
- Apple and Google suspend human review of voice recordings after privacy outcries RAIN News · Anna Washenko
- Apple suspends program that allowed employees to listen to Siri recordings The Daily Dot · Mikael Thalen
- Amid scrutiny, Apple freezes human reviews of Siri conversations SiliconANGLE · Maria Deutscher
- Apple Contractors Might Have Listened to You Having Sex Via Siri Observer · Harmon Leon
- Apple Suspends Listening to Siri Commands After Privacy Outcry Bloomberg · Mark Gurman
- Apple and Google stop workers playing back voice recordings BBC · Chris Baraniuk
- German privacy probe orders Google to stop listening in on voice recordings for 3 months The Register · Kat Hall
- Apple and Google halt human voice-data reviews over privacy backlash, but transparency is the real issue VentureBeat · Paul Sawers
- Apple Suspends Siri Program After Privacy Backlash Threatpost · Lindsey O'Donnell
- Apple Suspends Siri's “Response Grading” Eavesdropping TidBITS · Josh Centers
- With Apple's Siri “Grading” in the Privacy Spotlight, Apple Decides to Temporarily Suspend the Practice Patently Apple · Jack Purcher
- Apple is pausing its human eavesdropping Siri QA Inquirer · Alan Martin
- Apple Will Give Customers a Choice About Siri Grading The Mac Observer · Andrew Orr
- Apple has stopped letting contractors listen to Siri voice recordings CNN · Rob Picheta
- 13 things you need to know in tech today Android Authority · Scott Adam Gordon
- Apple suspends Siri voice grading, future update will allow users to choose iMore · Rene Ritchie
- Apple and Google suspend some of their eavesdropping Telecoms.com · Wei Shi
- Apple's Siri contractors will no longer hear you having sex, making drug deals Graham Cluley
- Apple Stops Listening to Siri Recordings Following Backlash Tom's Guide · Don Reisinger
- Apple Siri, Google Assistant pause audio “grading” amidst privacy concerns SlashGear · JC Torres
- Apple Suspends Program In Which Contractors Listened to Recorded Siri Snippets MacStories · John Voorhees
- Apple suspends Siri snooping (and promises more control for the rest of us) Computerworld · Jonny Evans
- Irish contractors sent home as Apple pauses Siri grading Silicon Republic · Kelly Earley
- Whistleblower Reveals ‘Secret’ Siri Recordings Newser · Neal Colgrass
- Apple suspends grading program in which contractors listened to Siri queries TechSpot · Rob Thubron
- Apple restores faith in privacy by shutting down Siri grading program International Business Times · Sami Khan
- Apple won't let other people listen to your Siri recordings anymore unless you opt-in BGR · Chris Smith
- Privacy of iPhone and Google virtual assistants questioned as Apple pauses human checks of Siri recodings Telegraph · James Cook
- Apple stops Siri grading program globally, future iOS update to provide opt-in/out controls iDownloadBlog.com · Christian Zibreg
- Apple suspends Siri grading program that lets contractors listen in on recordings Fast Company · Michael Grothaus
- Apple is suspending Siri quality control due to recent privacy concerns Pocket-lint · Adrian Willings
- Privacy: Google stops transcribing Assistant recordings and Apple stops listening to Siri recordings BetaNews · Mark Wyciślik-Wilson
- Apple reportedly suspends Siri quality control process globally for temporary basis Firstpost Tech
- Greater transparency practices for Siri, Assistant Seeking Alpha · Yoel Minkoff
- Apple suspends program in which humans review users' Siri queries Axios · Ina Fried
- Apple Suspends Siri Grading Program Thurrott · Paul Thurrott
- Apple Announces Immediate Suspension of Controversial Siri Grading Program iPhone in Canada Blog · Christopher Baugh
- Apple stops listening to users' Siri queries Cult of Mac · Luke Dormehl
- Apple setzt Programm aus, bei dem Mitarbeiter Siri-Anfragen aus Gründen der Qualitätssicherung abhören Apple News aus Cupertino
- Apple suspends the Siri program where people listened to your questions Engadget · Richard Lawler
- Apple reviewing Siri audio grading practices, will let users opt out in future 9to5Mac · Benjamin Mayo
- Apple Suspends Siri Quality Control Program, Opt Out Option Coming MacRumors · Juli Clover
- Apple suspends program that let humans listen in to Siri conversations Mashable · Stan Schroeder
- Apple and Google suspend monitoring of voice recordings by humans The Next Web · Ravie Lakshmanan
- Apple will suspend and review a global program that allows contractors to listen to Siri recordings Business Insider · Rosie Perper
- Apple Suspends Siri Grading Program Due to Privacy Concerns iPhone Hacks · Rajesh Pandey
- Apple, Google pause voice recording transcription programmes bit-tech.net · Gareth Halfacree
- Apple suspends Siri quality control program following whistleblower report AppleInsider · Mikey Campbell
- Apple ends Siri ‘grading,’ says contractors won't listen to voice recordings anymore NBC News · Cyrus Farivar
- Apple Stops Letting Contractors Listen To Siri Voice Recordings, Will Offer Opt-Out Later Slashdot · BeauHD
- Google suspends transcription of voice assistant clips in Europe Reuters
- Google ordered to halt human review of voice AI recordings over privacy risks TechCrunch · Natasha Lomas
- If you live in the EU, your Google Assistant recordings won't be listened to by humans KnowTechie · Joe Rice-Jones
- How to delete Google Assistant audio recordings on Home speakers Android Central · Joe Maring
- Google won't listen to Assistant voice recordings in EU, but only for now Android Authority · C. Scott Brown
- Germany Orders Google to Stop Human Review of Voice Recordings The Mac Observer · Andrew Orr
- Google suspends transcriptions of recordings from its voice assistant in Europe CNBC · Jennifer Elias
Discussion
-
@canterrain
Josh Hendrickson
on x
Well, that's a good start. But if Amazon really wants to follow Google's lead, it should make the option opt-IN. Not opt-OUT. Opt-out is the pretty PR option of feel-goods without the providing a customer-first solution. https://twitter.com/...
-
@johnlmacfarlane
John MacFarlane
on x
Completely without compass. How about thinking this through from the perspective of what you would choose to say when explaining how this works to a friend? https://twitter.com/...
-
@wired
@wired
on x
Whenever a tech company is caught overreaching on user privacy, its default reaction is usually to give users the ability to opt out of its data collection practices. Here's a better idea: Let people opt in, instead https://www.wired.com/...
-
@libshipwreck
LibrarianShipwreck
on x
Prediction: within the next year it will be revealed that contractors are in fact still listening... https://www.theverge.com/...
-
@miad
Mia Dand
on x
A great example of why you should support independent journalism. “In response to concerns raised by a Guardian story last week over how recordings of Siri queries are used for quality control, Apple is suspending the program worldwide.” #AI #Ethics https://techcrunch.com/...
-
@rustyshelf
Russell Ivanovic
on x
What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone.* .... *Until it turns it doesn't. Then if the story doesn't get much traction and you don't notice we'll still pretend it does. But when it blows up we'll fix it. Clear? Marketing level 💯 https://twitter.com/...
-
@clry2
Chris Yiu
on x
The real problem here isn't humans listening to a sample of recordings: all machine learning systems need training to improve. It's the delta between people's expectations vs tech company reality that we need to fix - and that will take both sides https://twitter.com/...
-
@reckless
Nilay Patel
on x
Here's @backlon on Apple's Siri privacy situation — Apple retains the right to basically keep recordings forever, and today's rushed-out announcement is only about humans grading recordings — not *not saving recordings of you in the first place* https://www.theverge.com/...
-
@backlon
Dieter Bohn
on x
Apple's handling of your Siri voice recordings is a really clear sign that its strident privacy stance has given the company a blind spot: when it DOES collect your data, it isn't as good as everybody else at giving you controls for seeing and deleting it https://www.theverge.com…
-
@ibnkhalid_
Ibrahim
on x
“... the company's contractors “regularly” hear confidential and private information while carrying out the grading process, including in-progress drug deals, medical details and people having sex.” Major yikes https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
-
@a_bacci
Anna Bacciarelli
on x
And here's the impact of whistleblowing: Apple suspends the programme worldwide. How predictable that public outcry leads to more responsible corporate behaviour, rather than, say, internal review processes... https://techcrunch.com/...
-
@reckless
Nilay Patel
on x
Apple definitely made this change because they wanted to and not because reporters kept asking why Google and Amazon were better about this, that's why it was scrambled out in the middle of the night https://www.theverge.com/...
-
@carnage4life
Dare Obasanjo
on x
Apple, Amazon & Google have all come under fire for what was a standard industry practice of having humans transcribe speech their voice assistants couldn't understand. Begs the question of what other industry best practices would cause revolt if known? https://techcrunch.com/...
-
@backlon
Dieter Bohn
on x
One very important thing to notice about Apple's statement is that it says it has suspended “grading” Siri recordings. That's not the same thing as promising not to store recordings of your voice on its servers. It's just humans grading Siri's accuracy. https://www.theverge.com/.…
-
@malteengeler
Malte Engeler
on x
Letting contractors listen to the recording isn't really the issue though, is it? It's the fact that there ARE recording in the first place which e.g. could be subpoenaed any time. https://twitter.com/...
-
@panzer
Matthew Panzarino
on x
We are committed to delivering a great Siri experience while protecting user privacy. While we conduct a thorough review, we are suspending Siri grading globally. Additionally, as part of a future software update, users will have the ability to choose to participate in grading."
-
@martinsfp
Martin Sfp Bryant
on x
So Apple has suspended humans listening to Siri interactions (and Google has done the same with Assistant in the EU) but let's see how long they both go before quality of service suffers. https://techcrunch.com/...
-
@paulashby
Paul Ashby
on x
Hey Siri, please be sure to close that barn door after the last horse leaves, k? #SurveilYourselvesSuckers https://twitter.com/...
-
@markgurman
Mark Gurman
on x
When Apple starts grading Siri recordings again, users will be able to opt out. Apple should have added that ability when this discussion of companies listening to voice assistant records started in May.
-
@panzer
Matthew Panzarino
on x
It's suspending the program to do a review of the process. Concerns were raised by a Guardian article citing a contractor that was worried the audio snippets contained information that was too personal or potentially identifiable. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
-
@panzer
Matthew Panzarino
on x
So, Apple is: 1. Suspending the program 2. Doing an audit of the process 3. Adding a way for users to explicitly agree that their snippets can be used in this way to improve Siri
-
@panzer
Matthew Panzarino
on x
Here she something interesting. Apple has globally suspended its Siri quality control grading program — the process it uses to see whether audio snippets are accurate or if there was an accidental trigger https://twitter.com/...