LG Uplus will process call transcripts from its AI calling app, Ixio, on overseas servers operated by Microsoft and Google to upgrade the service. The company said it uses only data that has been de-identified, and only when both parties to a call consent, adding there is no security issue.

Industry sources said on Monday that LG Uplus recently revised Ixio's privacy policy and added an item on transferring call transcripts that have undergone an automated de-identification process to Microsoft and Google LLC. The revised policy took effect from Sunday.

A call transcript refers to the full record of a phone call converted into text using speech recognition technology. LG Uplus uses it for service quality evaluation, labelling and data analysis to retrain and upgrade Ixio's AI model.

The call transcripts will be transferred to 19 countries including the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan and Singapore through Microsoft infrastructure. They will be moved to 31 countries including the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Australia through Google LLC.

The information will be kept for 18 months from the date of collection and then destroyed. Overseas transfer of personal information and its use for AI training are optional consent items. Users can continue to use Ixio even if they do not consent.

The revision aims to expand research data for AI training. The data processing structure of global cloud providers also had some impact. LG Uplus uses Microsoft and Google Cloud infrastructure to upgrade Ixio. It said data processing locations differ by service, so some personal information may be processed overseas.