A new report confirms that contractors working for Facebook had been listening to audio recorded from users' Portal requests and the company plans to restart the practice soon.
Back in August, Bloombergreported that contractors working for the social media giant had been listening to and transcribing audio of users' conversations obtained from Facebook's Messenger app.
The new report says that user requests beginning with the prompt "Hey Portal" were also among the audio clips contractors listened to. The company is reinstating listening to those requests but will be giving users an opt-out option beginning with a software update in October.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Andrew Bosworth, Facebook’s head of hardware, said, “We paused human review of the ‘Hey Portal’ voice interactions last month while we worked on a plan that gave people more transparency and control, including a way to turn it off."
Bosworth added that the Portal transcriptions were separate from the Messenger issue and that Messenger audio review was still on hold for now.
Interestingly enough, while "voice queries and commands" related to "Hey Portal" commands are covered by Portal's data policy, there's no mention, per Bloomberg, of allowing third-party contractors to review the audio.
SEE ALSO:Facebook pushes further into your home with Portal TVFacebook is hardly the only company to face scrutiny over allowing contractors to listen in to users' conversations. Apple faced backlash earlier in 2019 when it turned out contractors were listening to Siri conversations, while both Amazon and Google have been employing humans to listen to audio from their AI assistants.
We've reached out to Facebook for comment on the Portal report.
It just goes to show that nothing in 2019 is ever private, especially with the ever-growing number of devices you surround yourself with.
TopicsFacebook
(责任编辑：綜合)
Watch MTV's Video Music Awards 2016 livestreamWhat to know about storing 'verifiable' COVID vaccine records in your Apple Wallet
How to use Portrait Mode on Instagram video chat in iOS 15YouTube killed Discord's most popular music bot, RhythmAirbnb activates disaster response site for Louisiana floodingThe U.S. will no longer have the final say on internet domain names
The National Telecommunications Information Admistration (NTIA) announced via 。 blog post 。on Tuesday
...[详细]'One of Us Is Lying' weaponizes high school tropes by leaving them alone
Thank god for silly teen TV. In this entertainment landscape overpopulated with shows that interroga
...[详细]How to unblock someone on Facebook
This is a story about the power of redemption. Everyone makes mistakes in life and sometimes those m
...[详细]'The Lord of the Rings' movies are stunning — except for one strange shot
Welcome toFix It, our series examining projects we love — save for one tiny change we wish we
...[详细]Photos show the Blue Cut fire blazing a path of destruction in California
A fast moving wildfire continued raging near San Bernadino, California, forcing the evacuation of at
...[详细]My favorite moment in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsis the first time Shang takes his shi
...[详细]Prince William unveils the 5 winners of the Earthshot Prize
The first-ever Earthshot Prize ceremony, run by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Camb
...[详细]Apple Store goes offline ahead of 'Unleashed' event
Apple Store is down again ahead of the company's "Unleashed" event, where Apple is expected to launc
...[详细]Darth Vader is back. Why do we still care?
They saved the best for last in the first official trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, release
...[详细]The most exclusive 'dating app for Jews' is not actually that Jewish
When Lox Clubburst onto the dating app scene in 2020 as the app "for Jews with ridiculously high sta
...[详细]Watch MTV's Video Music Awards 2016 livestream
Xiaomi to launch Mi Mix 4 one day before Samsung event