In recent months, a number of news items have come to light which, when combined, paint a monstrous picture of the “Big 5” – i.e. Facebook, Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft. In some cases, text messages are and have been read, voice messages intercepted and even transcribed. In some cases, this even happened in the home office, where every family member of the respective employees had access. In other cases, the recordings are even said to have involved drug deals and sex recordings. Here is a summary.
[Links are mostly in german]
Mobilegeeks / Sascha Pallenberg: WhatsApp: Encryption worthless thanks to backdoor
Futurezone.at: Facebook can read WhatsApp messages, despite encryption
t3n Magazin: BKA cell phone Trojan for reading Whatsapp and other messengers apparently already in use
Twitter: Facebook paid people to listen to and transcribe your voice clips
Waz.de: Facebook also transcribed voice recordings from users
Turi 2: Facebook had audio chats transcribed by third-party companies.
Meedia.de: New privacy options on Facebook: Groups are also monitored
Blick.ch: Using AI against criminal content – Whatsapp to become a police officer
Twitter.de: Apple employees listened in on sex and drug deals via Siri
Br.de: Facebook had voice messages typed out by users
Süddeutsche: The blood donation service of the Bavarian Red Cross forwarded information about personal details to #Facebook. (“Do you use drugs?” “Have you tested positive for HIV?”)
Comment: So much for “I have nothing to hide”.
Twitter.de: Amazon also lets employees listen in.
Twitter.de: “Did not live up to our own high ideals” – Apple apologizes for Siri listening and recording.
New York Post: Apple apologizes for letting contractors eavesdrop on Siri’s sex recordings
Twitter.de: Facebook’s new privacy promise is a sham
Twitter.de: Developers: Facebook can see WhatsApp chats – despite end-to-end encryption
Twitter.de: EXCLUSIVE: Smartphone Trojans in use: Police can overcome #WhatsApp encryption
PCWelt: Microsoft: Third-party companies analyze Xbox voice recordings
EDIT:
Amazon employees sift through images from cloud cameras (including very private recordings)
Summary:
Every one of the big 5 companies is reading or listening in on private communications in some form – plus government agencies. Lately, it feels like those confused people on the side of the road with a sign around their neck that we’re all being bugged. But for various reasons, we are. Companies like Facebook and Amazon want to use it to improve their advertising/sales, Skype wants to improve its voice quality, government agencies want to catch criminals etc. All companies have their (understandable) reasons. And technically – you have to be honest – it is also necessary in some way. How can a voice assistant learn if you can’t tell it that it has misunderstood something? To a certain extent, this requires “teachers” – i.e. people.
In the end, however, the realization remains that nothing, absolutely nothing, remains secret with the “Big 5” (+ the state as no. 6). All messages sent (and with Amazon through Alexa also the spoken word in your own home) are read and listened to.
