Apple on Monday pointed to previous statements, in which it said it is suspending Siri grading globally as it conducts a thorough review. It has also said that, as part of a future software update, users will have the ability to choose to participate in grading.
Amazon, Google didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday. In a statement last week, Amazon said "we take customer privacy seriously and continuously review our practices and procedures,” adding that it would update information it provides to customers to make practices more clear. Google said it is "assessing how we conduct audio reviews and help our users understand how data is used."
In the U.S., Congressman Seth Moulton in late July introduced a bill called the Automatic Listening Exploitation Act that would grant the Federal Trade Commission the power to issue fines of up to $40,000 per infraction when digital assistants and smart doorbells violate terms of agreements. The proposed legislation aims to provide consumers recourse when assistants and doorbells record conversations where users haven’t uttered the device’s wake word or activated the device.
Strict Rules
In Europe, data protection authorities already have strict fining powers. They were strengthened under the bloc’s strict new General Data Protection Regulation that entered into force last May and they can levy fines as high as 4% of a company’s annual revenue. In its annual report published this July, the European Data Protection Board said authorities this year and next would focus on data subjects’ rights and consider technologies including artificial intelligence and digital assistants.
European lawmakers are urging authorities to avail of their powers with respect to digital assistants.
“Regulators should control and monitor AI development to avoid further future scandals and the potential negative impact on people’s lives,” said Carmen Avram, a center-left member of European Parliament from Romania.
The Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information last week announced it was investigating Google’s practice of having employees and contractors transcribe home assistant voice recordings to see if the program complies with the EU’s privacy rules. Commissioner Johannes Caspar at the time also urged Apple and Amazon to review their procedures.
Amazon Changes
Amazon since then has changed its policy. It now allows customers with access to the Alexa smartphone app to remove their recordings from a pool that could be analyzed by Amazon employees and contract workers.