Contractors working for Microsoft are listening to personal conversations of Skype users conducted through the app's translation service, according to a cache of internal documents, screenshots, and audio recordings obtained by Motherboard. Although Skype's website says that the company may analyze audio of phone calls that a user wants to translate in order to improve the chat platform's services, it does not say some of this analysis will be done by humans. The Skype audio obtained by Motherboard includes conversations from people talking intimately to loved ones, some chatting about personal issues such as their weight loss, and others seemingly discussing relationship problems. Other files obtained by Motherboard show that Microsoft contractors are also listening to voice commands that users speak to Cortana, the company's voice assistant. Apple and Google recently suspended their use of human transcribers for their respective Siri and Google Assistant services after a backlash over similar media reporting on the companies' practices. "The fact that I can even share some of this with you shows how lax things are in terms of protecting user data," a Microsoft contractor who provided the cache of files to Motherboard said. Motherboard granted the source anonymity to speak more candidly about internal Microsoft practices, and because the person is under a non-disclosure agreement with the company. The snippets of audio obtained by Motherboard are typically short, lasting between five and ten seconds. The source said other passages can be longer, however. Learn more by visiting OUR FORUM. Japan’s Fair Trade Commission is investigating Apple Inc (AAPL.O) over its pressure on Japanese parts makers and whether it abused its power in violation of anti-monopoly rules, the Mainichi newspaper reported on Tuesday. The investigation is the latest by the country’s regulators against the tech giant after they found last year that the company may have breached antitrust rules on the way it sold its iPhones in Japan. It also comes as Apple may face more regulatory scrutiny in the United States. Reuters reported in June that the U.S. Justice Department has jurisdiction for a potential probe of Apple as part of a broader review of whether technology giants are using their size to act in an anti-competitive manner. Japan’s FTC survey of companies showed that Apple had signed contracts forcing firms to provide free technology and know-how to its affiliates for parts manufacturing, the Mainichi said. It also pressured some suppliers to lower components prices and prohibited them from selling parts and technology to other companies, while requiring them to shoulder the costs of any unforeseen issues, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources. When a company called it an infringement of intellectual property rights and demanded a revision, Apple threatened to end their business relationship, the report said. The FTC had no immediate comment. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last year, the FTC investigated Apple over allegations that it unfairly pressured Yahoo Japan Corp (4689.T) to slow the expansion of its online games platform, which competes with Apple’s App Store. The tech firm is also facing a potential U.S. investigation over allegations that App Store policies give the company too much clout over app sales and in-app purchases. Follow this and more on Our Forum. China's tech company Huawei has been actively developing a new operating system, 'Hongmeng,' after Google confirmed it would stop supporting Android updates for its devices due to US government restrictions on business between Huawei and US companies. Huawei could release a phone with its own operating system later in the year after Google deprived the Chinese tech giant access to Android updates after the US blacklisted the company. Currently, Android is the operating system (OS) installed on Huawei smartphones. According to the Global Times, the OS, built for use with smart TVs and watches rather than mobile phones – is set to be released on 9 August. According to a source speaking to the Global Times, the new OS has cryptographic functions for protecting users' personal data. Read more: Huawei Could Release Smartphone with Its New Hongmeng OS Instead of Android. |
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