The State Duma will consider a draft law on the protection of human voice generated by artificial intelligence. One of the authors of the initiative, Deputy Chairman of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy of the Federation Council, Artem Sheikin, explained how the law will work if it is approved.
“The bill will regulate the use of a citizen’s voice, recordings containing it, and recordings containing their reconstructed voice. This rule was introduced by analogy with the rule of the Civil Code on the protection of the image of a citizen and enshrines the principle of using the voice only with the consent of the citizen.” – he said on Channel Five.
According to Sheikin, the bill entails legal liability, as well as compensation for material, physical or moral losses and damages to a citizen if his voice, recreated using special technologies, is obtained and used in violation of the law.
“In two cases, the consent of a citizen is not required: when his voice is used in the state, public or public interest and when his voice is recorded in places open to the public: at public events, meetings, congresses, conferences. An exception is also the case when the voice of the citizen is the main object of use.” – Sheikin explained.
The senator emphasized that voice information is biometric personal data of the citizen and as a general rule it is necessary to obtain the citizen’s consent for its processing. However, due to the unscrupulous use of speech synthesis technologies, a citizen’s right to decide how to dispose of his or her voice recordings is now being widely violated.
“Cases of violation of limits on the use of voting have become more frequent. For example, many companies agree with announcers to record voices and then use this recording without their consent.” — Sheikin gave an example.
He also noted that the illegal use of speech recordings could have negative consequences for a citizen if their voice is used in a way that is unacceptable to them. In particular, we can talk about cases of voice use for fraudulent purposes. In this sense, the senator highlighted, the citizen has the right to demand the elimination of information and the refutation of the information provided through a recording of his voice.
