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4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

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Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#61
post #50
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Germans (because of course) I don't know if it's the reason you imply. In the 70s, there were big debates in Germany about privacy and data storage. They spoke of one's data shadow (Datenschatten). I suspect this word comes from that tradition. The reason the word exists would then be the reflection (Verwaltigung) on WW2.

The Stasi would be the obvious cultural context. In the US of course the government buys this sort of information legally from corporations.

> The Stasi would be the obvious cultural context.

There is also the rather famous example of how earlier census data was used in the 40’s.

Once the government has your data, they have it. The next generation of representatives may not follow all the same rules and norms

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#62
The biometric pairing is what makes this particularly bad. A leaked password is recoverable. A leaked voiceprint combined with ID scans is permanent, you can not rotate your voice.

The deeper problem is that most of these companies collected this data because they could, not because they needed it for the core service. 'Datensparsamkeit' is the right frame: the voice samples were a liability sitting on a server waiting for exactly this.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#64
post #44

> If you were a Mercor contractor and you believe your voice may already be in circulation, ORAVYS will analyze the first three suspect samples free of charge. Awesome, if you're a victim of an AI company having your voice, you can help yourself by sending another AI company your voice! > Audio is never used to train commercial models without explicit consent I'm sure Mercor has explicit consent as well, legal teams…

Reminds me of my experience when trying to remove my Airbnb account, they require my ID card scans of both sides. I said fuck it and never touch this company again

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were you not around for the Big Data heyday a decade ago?

Until thumb drives became large enough to fit most datasets it stopped becoming Big Data. Just normal data.

To some degree IMO big data is still a mindset when it might take a day to process your data in a normal SQL query. Some tech doesn't scale to the data size for all use cases, and you need different solutions.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#66

So, they should all just rotate their voices ... right? I jest but the majority of the "normal" people I know are happy to hand over biometrics because _it's easier_. We need to start branding biometrics as "forever passwords" or something to help people understand just what they're handing over when they validate access to their checking account or enter Disney World or whatever else.

One of the problems is that "forever passwords" is a term used positively when I worked in banking, as it was a password that the customer could not forget and would not need support using.

So I could easily see a lot of people viewing this as a positive.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#67
post #44

> If you were a Mercor contractor and you believe your voice may already be in circulation, ORAVYS will analyze the first three suspect samples free of charge. Awesome, if you're a victim of an AI company having your voice, you can help yourself by sending another AI company your voice! > Audio is never used to train commercial models without explicit consent I'm sure Mercor has explicit consent as well, legal teams…

This reminds me of those identity theft settlements, where you need to prove your identity to claim the reward

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#69
post #44

> If you were a Mercor contractor and you believe your voice may already be in circulation, ORAVYS will analyze the first three suspect samples free of charge. Awesome, if you're a victim of an AI company having your voice, you can help yourself by sending another AI company your voice! > Audio is never used to train commercial models without explicit consent I'm sure Mercor has explicit consent as well, legal teams…

Has your identity been stolen? Try our free credit monitoring for a month!

Selling the solution to the problem you caused ought to be illegal.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#70
post #50
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Germans (because of course) I don't know if it's the reason you imply. In the 70s, there were big debates in Germany about privacy and data storage. They spoke of one's data shadow (Datenschatten). I suspect this word comes from that tradition. The reason the word exists would then be the reflection (Verwaltigung) on WW2.

The Stasi would be the obvious cultural context. In the US of course the government buys this sort of information legally from corporations.

The stasi could only dream of the kind of surveillance the NSA et al has today.
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