Microsoft contractors have listened to audio recordings of Xbox users speaking in their homes, a report by Motherboard has revealed. Audio from Xbox One users was sometimes triggered and recorded by mistake when contractors were working to improve the console`s voice command functions.This practice began at the beginning of the Xbox One`s life cycle but was only meant to capture audio following voice commands like `Xbox` or `Hey Cortana.` It`s the latest example of contractors working on behalf of Microsoft to listen to audio captured by several of the company`s products. An earlier Motherboard report revealed that human contractors were listening to some Skype calls and audio recorded by Microsoft`s virtual assistant, Cortana.`Xbox commands came up first as a bit of an outlier and then became about half of what we did before becoming most of what we did,` one former contractor told Motherboard. `Most of the Xbox related stuff I can recall doing was obviously unintentional activations with people telling Cortana `No` as they were obviously in the middle of a game and doing normal game chat,` a current contractor said. Each contractor signed an NDA so Motherboard kept them anonymous to protect their identities.The Xbox One launched in 2013 with the capability to be controlled via voice commands via Kinect. At the time, many were concerned with the idea of Kinect listening to Xbox users, but Microsoft released a statement addressing privacy concerns saying that `Kinect for Xbox 360 was designed and built with strong privacy protections in place and the new Kinect will continue this commitment.``The Xbox stuff was actually a bit of a welcome respite, honestly. It was frequently the same games. Same DLCs. Same types of commands,` the former contractor added. ``Xbox give me all the games for free` or `Xbox download [newest Minecraft skins pack]` or whatever. Occasionally I heard `Xbox, tell Solas to heal,` or something similar, which would be a command for Dragon Age ...
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