When it sounds too good to be true it often is.

When looking for a speech rec platform for a customer, We looked at Spinvox, But had concerns as we needed realtime and total security.

Its now clear why these issues where sidestepped with talk of special APIs and algorithms.

Quote:

A UK firm that turns mobile messages into text faces questions over its privacy standards, technology and finances following a BBC investigation. Spinvox's service aims to convert voice messages into text messages using advanced speech recognition software. But claims to the BBC suggest that the majority of messages have been heard and transcribed by call centre staff in South Africa and the Philippines. The firm declined to comment on how many messages are "read" in this way. "Speech algorithms do not learn without human intervention and all speech systems require humans for learning - Spinvox does this in real-time," the firm said in a statement. "The actual proportion of messages automatically converted is highly confidential and sensitive data," it added. The Spinvox website claims its technology "captures spoken words and feeds them into a Voice Message Conversion System, known as 'D2' (the Brain)". The company said that, when necessary, parts of messages can be sent to a "conversion expert". The part sent is anonymised so that there is no way of tracking back a particular number or person. It will be just one of millions of messages going through the automated system on a particular day, the company said. A Facebook group created by staff at an Egyptian call centre, which used to work for Spinvox, includes a picture of one transcribed message containing what appears to be sensitive commercial information. It also includes an audio recording of one call, and pictures of staff at the call centre.

The full story is at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8163511.stm

Ian