Anytime you use a video teleconferencing app, youre sending your audio data to the company hosting the services.
And, according to a new study, that meansallof your audio data.
This includes voice and background noise whether youre broadcasting or muted.
Unfortunately, as this research remains unpublished, were unable to confirm the specific apps tested.
So, for now, we cant name and shame them.
Well just have to wait and see who gets name-dropped when the paper is published in June.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
However, that doesnt mean we cant draw some conclusions.
According to the researchers, this data could be used to extract meaningful information.
Of course, big tech uses AI to parse everything.
So the researchers built their own algorithms to study the data.
What they found was astonishing.
File under:Imagine what Google or Microsoft could do with their massiveAImodels.
Neurals take:Should you be concerned?
Should you stop using these apps?
No, because thats not really an option for everybody.
Either way, it shows a disturbing level of detachment from the user experience.
Luckily, youve got options.
If you truly want to mute your audio feed, you should probably perform a double mute.
At the end of the day, its unclear exactly what big techs doing with this data.
But, no matter what, the fact that its being collected under suchmisleadingcircumstances is cause for major concern.
And, furthermore, it demonstrates how much more sensitive our audio data can be than our video data.
I dont think that exists for microphones.
Dont forget to double mute, folks.
