Neon Mobile App Ranking High in Apple’s U.S. App Store Raises Concerns Over User Privacy and Data Selling for AI Development
A mobile application, Neon Mobile, currently ranked second in Apple’s U.S. App Store’s Social Networking section, offers users the opportunity to monetize their phone calls by selling their audio data to artificial intelligence (AI) companies. The app claims to pay users up to 30 cents per minute for calls made to other Neon users and up to $30 daily for calls made to non-Neon users, as stated on its website.
Launched on September 18 as the No. 476 app in the Social Networking category, Neon Mobile quickly climbed to No. 10 by the end of the following day, according to data from Appfigures. On Wednesday, it appeared in the No. 2 position on the iPhone’s top free charts for social apps and even reached the No. 7 overall app or game spot earlier that morning.
Neon Mobile records users’ inbound and outbound phone calls, with the company stating that it only records users’ side of the conversation unless they are speaking with another Neon user. The collected data is then sold to AI companies “for the purpose of developing, training, testing, and improving machine learning models, artificial intelligence tools and systems, and related technologies.”
The app’s terms of service grant Neon a broad license to use, host, store, transfer, publicly display, publicly perform, communicate, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, and distribute users’ recordings. This leaves room for the company to potentially use user data beyond its stated purposes.
Concerns regarding Neon Mobile’s privacy policy revolve around the anonymization of user data before it is sold to AI companies. While the app removes users’ names, emails, and phone numbers, it does not disclose how AI partners or other entities purchasing the data may use it. Voice data could be exploited for creating fake calls that appear to originate from the user, or used to develop new AI voices.
“Once your voice is over there, it can be used for fraud,” comments Peter Jackson, a cybersecurity and privacy attorney at Greenberg Glusker. The app does not provide any indication of recording the user’s call during use, nor does it warn the call recipient.
Neon founder Alex Kiam could not be reached for comment, but public records show he operates the company from a New York apartment. It is unclear if Kiam has secured investments, as information about funding remains undisclosed.
The widespread use and sale of personal data through mobile apps have become increasingly common in recent years, with companies resorting to less transparent methods to collect data. However, Neon Mobile represents a shift towards a more overt approach, where users are given the opportunity to profit from their own data. Despite this, concerns around privacy and potential misuse of personal information persist.
