The conversation of Skype users listened to the Chinese

Journalists learned that Microsoft hired contractors in China to listen to users' conversations on Skype and

with voice assistant Cortana. No measures were taken to ensure the confidentiality of the records.

Workers reportedly received from Microsoftclips of recordings in which they were asked to evaluate the quality of automatic translation in Skype and Cortana responses. At the same time, the performers worked from home from personal computers through an application that they accessed using the Chrome browser. Microsoft did not monitor in any way whether employees transferred access to the application to others, and did not control their actions at all.

One of the performers told reporters that he had to listen to personal conversations of users. Some were even associated with domestic violence.