Christopher Brown reports:
A growing stream of lawsuits challenging AI-powered customer service systems as illegal wiretaps is forcing courts to grapple for the first time with whether and how to apply older privacy laws to emerging technology.
The “conversation intelligence” technology—deployed by providers like Google LLC, Invoca Inc., and ConverseNow Technologies Inc.—can help live agents interact with customers by feeding suggestions and responses to objections, or it can replace humans altogether.
In either case, litigants say the AI system is “listening in” on customer calls in violation of federal and state wiretapping laws. At least five complaints have been filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California so far this year, and at least a dozen since 2023.
The lawsuits’ success will depend in part on how the courts evaluate technical legal issues under the federal Wiretap Act, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, and similar laws.
Read more at Bloomberg Law.