Privacy of voicemail-to-text?

[Pacificyew]

I just added the Value Pack which comes with voicemail-to-text.  I read on the main Fido site that "By subscribing, user accepts messages being processed outside Canada."  I have a job that requires confidentiality.  Are steps taken to ensure that the privacy of these voicemails is maintained when/where they are processed into texts, and with how they are transmitted internationally? Should I be concerned?

Thanks!!

[Pacificyew]

Hey there! 

We take the confidentiality of customer information very seriously. We make sure to comply with all relevant federal and provincial laws and regulations when it comes to this kind of thing.

I hope you find this information useful. 

[sd3]

So what you going to due about it?

[FidoMaria]

Hi @sd3!

Can you give more details on what's going on? Do you get an error message when you try to access your voicemails?

[sd3]

I can't get my voicemail

[Pacificyew]

Great! Thanks for your response.

[zyx]

A good rule of thumb is that if you do not encrypt your data yourself, it is not secure/private.

Therefore, do not assume phone calls / SMS / voicemail is private. By definition, voicemail-to-text analyses your voicemail (which is stored on a computer to begin with), and transforms it into a small plain-text file; the servers need access to your voicemail for the system to work. Unless your corporation(s) control all the servers implicated in the process (hint: they don't), then your voicemail is not secure.

So short answer: "are steps taken to insure privacy?" No, because only you (or your employer) can take those steps. As soon as you leave that to a 3rd party, it is not private anymore.

[Pacificyew]

Thanks for your response zyx.  Put simply, it sounds like my phone calls / SMS / voicemail  are all not private already because they're not encrypted and under my total control.  That makes sense.  At the same time I recognize that I need to communicate on a daily basis, and to put my trust into a communications company to enable me to do so.

I guess a better way to have posed my question is whether Fido has any procedures/best practices in place to maintain a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding outsourcing their voicemail-to-text outside Canada.  I took FidoPierre's answer, above, as a confirmation that they do.

[FidoPierre · Accepted solution]

Hey there! 

We take the confidentiality of customer information very seriously. We make sure to comply with all relevant federal and provincial laws and regulations when it comes to this kind of thing.

I hope you find this information useful.