Technology - Google News |
- Google Changing Privacy Protections for Assistant, Plans to Auto-Delete More of Your Audio Data - Gizmodo
- Borderlands 3 Is 2K's Fastest Selling Game Ever - IGN - IGN
- Snap's 'Project Voldemort' dossier detailed Facebook's copycat moves - Engadget
| Posted: 23 Sep 2019 07:30 AM PDT  In recent months, it became clear that Google, Apple, and Amazon were all guilty of having humans review audio recordings collected by digital assistants. Today, Google's trying to mitigate some of the backlash by updating and clarifying its policies on what it does with your audio data. In July, a Google subcontractor leaked over a thousand Google Assistant recordings to VRT, a Belgian news organization. While it wasn't exactly a secret that Google employed humans to review and transcribe recordings, the leak resurfaced concerns about accidental recordings in which the "Hey Google" wake word wasn't used, and how securely Google stores sensitive audio data. In response, Google spun the leak as a security breach and defended human review as a necessary part of improving speech recognition across multiple languages. It then paused human transcription globally as it reviewed its policies. The first change Google's making directly deals with human review. In a blog, it noted that customers were always able to opt-in or -out of its Voice & Audio Activity (VAA) setting during Assistant setup. However, it wasn't necessarily clear from the previous language in its terms of service that humans would be reviewing audio recordings. To fix that, Google says it will highlight the fact "that when you turn on VAA, human reviewers may listen to your audio snippets to help improve speech technology." Existing users will also have the option to review their VAA and reconfirm whether they still want to participate. Google also said it plans to add an option to adjust how sensitive a Google Assistant device is to the "Hey Google" command. Meaning, you could make it stricter to reduce accidental recordings, or temporarily more relaxed in a noisy setting. Also on the agenda is automatically deleting more data and beefing up privacy protections for the transcription process—though Google didn't give much detail on these fronts. With regard to privacy, Google merely reiterated that audio recordings were never associated with individual accounts and that it would add "an extra layer of privacy filters." Google did not immediately respond to Gizmodo's request for comment to clarify what that actually means. Advertisement As for data deletion, it said it would improve its process of identifying unintentional recordings. More concretely, Google noted it would update its policy "later this year" so that the audio data of VAA participants would be automatically deleted after a few months. On the surface, these are all good things—especially the bit where Google says it will highlight human review in its VAA opt-in process. It bears reminding that right now, human review is still a necessary part of improving voice and speech recognition. Even with improved or stricter auto delete measures, you can't be 100 percent sure that a digital assistant won't accidentally record a conversation and send it off into the cloud for some underpaid contractor to listen to. If you want zero chance of that, you're better off not opting into VAA at all, or eschewing voice assistants altogether. Advertisement |
| Borderlands 3 Is 2K's Fastest Selling Game Ever - IGN - IGN Posted: 23 Sep 2019 06:51 AM PDT Borderlands 3's publisher 2K says the looter shooter sold over five million copies during its first five days on the market, making it the fastest-selling game in the company's history.That works out at 50 percent more sales than Borderlands 2 during the same launch window - a game which went on to sell over 22 million units.The high figures were achieved despite backlash from fans when it was announced the PC version of Borderlands 3 would be an Epic Games exclusive. A press release from 2K announcing the sales records draws attention to the store figures in particular, saying "Borderlands 3 delivered the highest pre-order sales figures to date for a 2K title, as well as broke pre-order records with the Epic Games Store. Initial sales of Borderlands 3 have exceeded the label's expectations and, in particular, PC sales of the title through the Epic Games Store have been incredibly strong." Over 70 percent of Borderlands 3's sales were digital, and the game has consistently pulled views over on Twitch. 2K says it's generated more than 14 million hours of content on the streaming platform, which is more than half the viewership that Borderlands 2 generated over seven years. Our review said Borderlands 3 was the best in a series of great co-op shooters. Our full thoughts are in the video above.Despite copies flying off virtual shelves, the first few days of Borderlands 3 involved some teething problems. Players on PC reported problems with cloud saves, while split-screen play had some performance issues. Alysia Judge is a writer and presenter. Chat to her on Twitter @alysiajudge. |
| Snap's 'Project Voldemort' dossier detailed Facebook's copycat moves - Engadget Posted: 23 Sep 2019 07:47 AM PDT Sponsored Links Facebook hasn't been subtle about duping Snapchat features and otherwise undermining its competitor. Don't think Snap just shrugged its shoulders and focused on adding and opening up features, though -- apparently, it's been taking notes. Wall Street Journal sources claim Snap has documented Facebook's alleged anti-competitive moves in a collection of files nicknamed 'Project Voldemort.' Clearly, Snap sees Facebook as a villain worthy of taking on Harry Potter. Many of the perceived offenses are well-known, such as copying Stories and preventing people from linking to Snapchat profiles, but the Voldemort documents also accuse Facebook of intentionally suppressing Snapchat-related content. Reportedly, Snap execs said that Instagram was blocking searches for Snapchat-related content, including the #snapchat hashtag and filters. You also wouldn't find this material on Instagram's Explore section, according to Snap. WSJ contacts also asserted that Facebook used pressure tactics. When Mark Zuckerberg met with Snap's Evan Spiegel, he allegedly told the CEO to either accept an acquisition at a set price or deal with Facebook copying Snapchat's features. (A similar tactic may also have been used against Foursquare's Dennis Crowley.) And when Instagram had yet to formally ban Snapchat links, it purportedly threatened influencers with losing their verified status if they shared those links. Whatever Facebook may have done, it may have reason to worry about Project Voldemort. Facebook is believed to be under FTC scrutiny for anti-competitive moves, including the acquisition of would-be rivals and its use of Onavo tech to gather usage data for Snapchat. Between that and the Justice Department's sweeping review of tech competition, Voldemort could provide investigators with a convenient summary of Snap's grievances. A Facebook spokeswoman has defended the company's practices, arguing that the decision to "build and iterate" on rivals' features helped competition and that the Onavo tech was similar to other market research tools. Antitrust regulators might not see things that way, though, and it's entirely possible that Snap's documentation could prompt officials to take action, whether it's fining Facebook er even unwinding some of its past purchases.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Technology - Latest - Google News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
This post have 0 komentar
EmoticonEmoticon