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Facebook is the latest major company to come under fire for using audio in ways their users didn’t expect.
It has just come to light that Facebook is using outside contractors to manually transcribe thousands of hours of audio recorded by anyone who has used Facebook Messenger for voice chat.
While Facebook says that they “paused” their transcription just over a week ago and are reviewing the practice now, it may be too little, too late for many users who already lost so much faith when their data was sold to Cambridge Analytica not that long ago.
Any user that has ever used Facebook Messenger for voice chat has had their voice recorded by Facebook. If you’ve ever spoken into your phone through Messenger for a text-to-speak, or you’ve ever recorded audio and sent it, that is recorded. Any voice conversation you’ve had are also saved, apparently.
By giving Facebook permission to use the microphone on your phone with Messenger, you have agreed to allow them to record your voice.
Facebook’s data-use policy, which was just revised last year, makes no new mention of audio. It does say that the company can and will “collect” content, communications, and information that is provided.
Facebook has been sending these recordings to a company called TaskUs Inc, which is based in Santa Monica, California but has “outposts” around the world where contractors work. The names of the users that are recorded are hidden from contractors and the project name through the company is simply “Prism”.
TaskUs shared with the media that Facebook is their single biggest client, but would not say just how much audio the social media giant sends them every week.
Many of those doing the transcribing felt uncomfortable after realizing that users had no idea they were being recorded. Some of the audio is vulgar, deeply personal, and was clearly not meant for anyone but the recipient.
Here’s the real question – why does Facebook care what you are saying through their Messenger service?
The company claims that they are using manual transcriptions to compare their AI transcription and look for ways to improve it. What everyone seems to be ignoring, however, is the implication that Facebook not only isn’t sorry that they’re using your private conversations, but they want to do it more efficiently and cheaper by having a robot automatically transcribe everything you say.
