Microsoft Says Humans Will Continue To Transcribe Cortana And Skype Audio

Recently there have been reports about how big tech companies such as Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook have actually been taking our audio recordings made through digital assistants and having them analyzed and transcribed by outside contractors. According to the companies, this was done in a bid to improve on the overall quality and accuracy of their products.

However, following the discovery, many of these tech companies announced that they would be temporarily halting these programs and making changes so that customers can opt out of them in the future. But Microsoft seems to be taking a slightly different approach, where the company actually seems to be doubling down on the humans who will be used to help transcribe these recordings.

In a statement made to Motherboard, a Microsoft spokesperson said, “We realized, based on questions raised recently, that we could do a better job specifying that humans sometimes review this content.” The company adds, “Our processing of personal data for these purposes includes both automated and manual (human) methods of processing.”

It should be noted that Microsoft does allow for users to delete audio records made of it through the privacy dashboard, but the fact that it isn’t always the easiest to find, we’re sure that some would have appreciated if the company would have been more transparent.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Computers, General
Tags: Cortana, Microsoft, Privacy, Skype