Swiss court bars hotlines from storing voiceprints without consent

Companies must obtain callers’ explicit consent before creating voiceprints, Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court has ruled in a case involving PostFinance, SRF reported.

PostFinance, a subsidiary of Swiss Post, began automatically creating voiceprints of customers who called its hotline in autumn 2018. A recorded message told callers their voice would be linked to their name and telephone number and stored. Those who objected had to tell a customer service representative.

The court acknowledged that voice recognition could help companies identify customers and handle their requests more quickly. But it said a person’s voice is a highly personal characteristic that can reveal not only how they speak but also information about their emotions, health and personality.

PostFinance must now obtain consent for the voiceprints already created under the procedure or delete the profiles. The ruling can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.