China's security ministry warns of AI voice cloning from brief phone responses
In short
China's Ministry of State Security warned that criminals could use a few seconds of a phone response for AI voice cloning and impersonation, according to October 11 reports. It highlighted advice circulating online to remain silent for three seconds when answering unfamiliar calls and hang up if the other side also remains silent.
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China's Ministry of State Security warned that criminals could use a few seconds of speech to clone a person's voice with AI and impersonate them for fraud, according to reports published on October 11. Jiemian said the ministry's WeChat account discussed advice circulating on social platforms to remain silent for three seconds when answering unfamiliar calls. The warning said callers might deliberately stay silent to induce a response such as a greeting. It advised hanging up if the other side continued to remain silent. The supplied reports give no testing results for that advice. [ 2 , 3 ]
The ministry's message described broader risks to biometric information, including voices, faces, irises and gait. It said AI could extract standardized biometric features from publicly available images and audio, and that some unlawful apps or platforms might collect facial and voice data excessively under the guise of facial verification. It warned that a photograph and brief audio could be used to create an impersonating digital likeness for fraudulent borrowing requests or online rumors. The message also described the possibility of combining biometric and genetic information to identify people or infer family relationships, and warned of potential misuse by foreign intelligence services. [ 2 ]
The message urged AI companies and internet platforms to incorporate compliance reviews throughout data collection, model training and product launches, checking authorization and avoiding unnecessary collection or unauthorized use. It called on users to consider the purpose, scope and safeguards of biometric permissions and avoid providing information unnecessarily. Xinhua and Jiemian cited Chinese data-security, cybersecurity and personal-information laws as safeguards. IT Home also reported a Supreme People's Court statement that unlawful acquisition, sale or provision of personal information such as facial photographs or videos can constitute a crime in serious circumstances. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Why it matters
The ministry's message describes risks to biometric data, including voices and facial images. It urges AI companies and platforms to check data authorization and users to grant biometric permissions cautiously.
Key facts
- The ministry warned that criminals might stay silent on calls to prompt recipients to supply a short voice sample. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The warning described excessive biometric collection, deepfake impersonation and the combination of data to infer private information. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The ministry urged firms to integrate compliance checks into data collection, model training and product launches. [ 2 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- How effective the three-second silence advice is at preventing voice-cloning fraud. The supplied reports repeat the advice but provide no effectiveness tests or figures.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Jiemian's October 11 report relayed the Ministry of State Security's WeChat warning. [ 2 ]