Spinvox in a spin

SPINVOX, the UK firm that turns mobile messages into text, is under pressure today following a BBC investigation that has raised questions over its privacy standards, technology and finances.

The Spinvox service converts voicemail messages into text messages using advanced speech recognition software. However, the BBC is today reporting that the majority of messages have been heard and transcribed by call centre staff in South Africa and the Philippines.

Spinvox has not yet responded to confirm or deny the claims. The Spinvox website says that, when necessary, parts of messages can be sent to a "conversion expert" – i.e. a person transcribes the message.

However, the BBC have reported a that a Facebook group created by staff at an Egyptian call centre that used to work for Spinvox, shows a picture of a transcribed message containing what appears to be sensitive commercial information.

Spinvox’s entry on the UK Data Protection Register says it does not transfer anything outside the European Economic Area – raising serious questions about privacy.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has made a statement pointing out that there was nothing to prevent Spinvox from using people rather than machines to translate messages, although they said that "it may be helpful if the company is clearer about the likelihood that people will be used to translate messages".

"This is particularly important if customers are using the service for transmitting sensitive or secure information," it added.

Leave your comments:
(Please note all comments are subject to an approval process before publication, no HTML or scripts allowed.)