Researchers at IBM have come up with technology that can hear if someone is giving out personal data and encrypt it on the fly.

According to Information Week, the software uses speech analytics to spot when it's happening, and then masks credit card numbers and other sensitive information in audio recordings.

The technique was developed at IBM's India Research Laboratory, and is designed to prevent the theft of private information from call centre recordings. An IBM spokesman said this had not been a major problem, but that the software could safeguard against potential threats in future.

Not only does the software prevent those who are not authorised from hearing it, it allows that data to be used for training purposes without handing out personal information.

IBM is piloting the technology in some call centres, and may offer it as a product.

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Information Week