Open Voice Network (OVN) is a neutral, non-profit association that is dedicated to the development of the standards and guidelines that aim to raise consumer trust in voice-based solutions.
As many researchers—such as those from Zhejiang University in China and Washington University in Seattle—have pointed out, voice assistants can be prone to hacking or even inadvertent data leakage and consumers have grown concerned that their voice assistant devices are storing their conversations.
The Open Voice Network aims to bolster consumer trust through communally-developed standards and governance that developers, designers, strategists and makers can go by to give users more data ownership and control.
It also aims to provide these core tenets to any ecosystem and architecture that developers prefer.
The association operates on the directed fund of the Linux Foundation and is independently funded and governed.
Last year, the OVN started a working group that was chartered to develop privacy guidelines specific to voice assistance in accord with new regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. Now, it is requesting public comment on Version 1.0 of these guidelines, “Privacy Guidelines and Capabilities Unique to Voice.”
The OVN is encouraging people to become sponsoring members.
“Doing so allows you to advocate for and finally support the mission of the Open Voice Network. Sponsoring members will guide and shape the future of voice assistance – in increasingly critical issues of technology, competition, and commercial and personal data privacy – to the benefit of global users and providers,” the OVN wrote on their website.
