Penny for your talks? Neon app pays users $0.30 per minute to record calls for AI training

Neon, an app that records phone calls and sells them to AI companies for training data, has climbed to No. 2 on Apple’s US App Store in the Social Networking category. The app pays users $0.30 per minute for calls with other Neon users and $0.15 per minute for calls with non-users, suggesting many people are willing to trade privacy for compensation.

How it works: Neon records phone conversations and sells the audio data to AI developers to help train speech recognition systems.

• Users earn money for each minute of recorded conversation, with earnings capped at $30 per day plus $30 bonuses for successful referrals.
• According to Reddit discussions, users can earn approximately $18-19 per hour through the app.
• Only the Neon user’s voice gets recorded when calling non-Neon users, while both sides are captured in Neon-to-Neon calls.

The privacy trade-off: While Neon promises not to sell personal information, its terms of service grant the company broad rights over user data.

• The company claims to redact personally identifiable information like names, numbers, and addresses before selling recordings to “vetted companies.”
• However, the terms of service allow Neon to use submitted recordings however it sees fit, granting the company “worldwide, exclusive, irrevocable, transferable, royalty-free” rights to the data.
• Users can delete their accounts to stop future recordings, but previously recorded calls may not be deleted from the company’s systems.

Why this matters: The app’s popularity reflects a growing willingness among consumers to monetize their personal data when offered direct compensation.

• “We want to build a new model where you’re not just the product, but a partner,” Neon states on its website. “Most companies sell your data without telling you, and they definitely don’t cut you in.”
• The trend suggests traditional privacy concerns may be shifting as people become more aware of data’s value and seek ways to benefit from sharing it.

User experience issues: Despite the app’s popularity, some users report payment delays that extend beyond Neon’s promised timeline.

• Neon says payouts are processed 2-3 days after earning the first 10 cents, but some users have complained about lengthy delays in receiving payments.
• The app helps AI developers access “diverse, real-world speech” data that can improve the performance of voice recognition and natural language processing systems.