FTC

Approaches to Address AI-enabled Voice Cloning

• Today, the FTC announced four winners of the Voice Cloning Challenge, which was launched to address the present and emerging harms of artificial intelligence, or “AI”-enabled voice cloning technologies.
• The FTC received submissions from a wide range of individuals, teams, and organizations.

Leveraging solutions to provide upstream prevention or authentication

• Prevention or authentication refers to techniques that limit the application and misuse of voice cloning software by unauthorized users.
• One commonly discussed approach for prevention and authentication is watermarking, which often refers to a “broad array of techniques” for embedding an identifying mark into a piece of media to track its origin to help prevent the misuse of cloned audio clips.
• [2] Invisible or visible watermarks can be altered or removed, potentially rendering them unhelpful for differentiating between real and synthetic content.

Applying solutions to detect solutions in real-time

Real-time detection or monitoring includes methods to detect cloned voices or the use of voice cloning technology at the time during which a specific event occurs. Studies reveal a spectrum of efficacy for voice cloning detection solutions.[5] The effectiveness of such solutions is especially important when considering the types of AI-enabled voice cloning scams – such as fraudulent extortion scams – that the technology can enable.

Using solutions to evaluate existing content

• The post-use evaluation of existing content includes methods to check if already-created audio clips such as voice mail messages and audio direct messages contain cloned voices.
• One potential way to evaluate existing audio clips is to develop algorithms that detect inconsistencies in voice cloned clips.

Looking forward: Preventing and deterring AI-enabled voice cloning scams and fraud

• While there are many exciting ideas with great potential, there’s still no silver bullet to prevent the harms posed by voice cloning.
• Further, voice service providers – telephone and VoIP companies – need to continue making progress against illegal calls.
• In addition, the Commission has recently enacted a new Impersonation Rule, which will give the agency additional tools to deter and halt deceptive voice cloning practices.
• There is no AI exemption from the laws on the books and the FTC remains committed to protecting consumers from the misuse of “AI”-enabled voice cloning technologies.

[2]https://arxiv.org/pdf/2306.01953.pdf
[3]https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/08/09/1077516/watermarking-ai-trus...
[4]https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/voice_cloning_financial_sca...
[5]https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.07683.pdf; https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.13770.pdf
[6]https://arxiv.org/pdf/2308.14970.pdf
[7]https://arxiv.org/pdf/2402.18085v1.pdf
[8] https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.07683.pdf; https://arxiv.org/pdf/2402.18085v1.pdf

• The Federal Trade Commission has finalized an order prohibiting data broker X-Mode and its successor Outlogic from sharing or selling any sensitive location data to settle allegations that the company sold precise location data that could be used to track people’s visits to sensitive locations such as medical and reproductive health clinics and places of worship.
• In a complaint first announced in January 2024, the FTC charged that X-Mode/Outlogic failed until May 2023 to remove sensitive locations from the raw location data it sold and did not implement reasonable or appropriate safeguards against downstream use of the precise location data it sold, putting consumers’ sensitive personal information at risk.
• In addition to the ban on selling or sharing sensitive location data, the order also imposes several other requirements on X-Mode/Outlogic including mandating that it create a program to ensure it develops and maintains a comprehensive list of sensitive locations, and ensure it is not sharing, selling or transferring location data about such locations.
• Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.

• The ringleader of a student loan debt relief scam will be permanently banned from the debt relief industry and is required to turn over assets as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
• The settlement with Marco Manzi resolves FTC charges involving the student loan debt relief scheme.
• The FTC said that Apex operators pocketed approximately $8.8 million in junk fees by luring students with false promises of loan forgiveness.
• The FTC has resources on how to avoid student loan debt relief scams at ftc.gov/StudentLoans.

• The online portal, HealthyCompetition.gov, allows the public to report potentially unfair and anticompetitive health care practices to the FTC and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
• The launch of the new portal advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to lower health care and prescription drug costs and help create more competitive health care markets that are fairer to patients, providers, payers, and workers.
• That’s why we are working to tackle anticompetitive practices in the health care markets,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
• “The Biden-Harris Administration and HHS know it is our responsibility to stop monopolistic, anti-competitive practices that undermine the delivery of health care to Americans.