A controversial app that claims to pay people for recordings of their phone calls, which are then used to train AI Models could soon return after being disabled due to a meaningful security flaw.

Alex Kiam, the founder of Neon, emailed app users on Tuesday to inform them that their payments are still in place, despite the app going dark.

“Yoru earnings have not disappeared — when we’re back online, we’ll pay you everything you’ve earned, plus a little bonus to thank you for your patience!” Kiam said in the email.

He promised Neon would be back “soon” and apologized. He did not respond to a request for further comment.

Neon was recently among the top five free iOS app downloads. However, it no longer appears on that list since it stopped functioning on Sept. 25, after TechCrunch reported on a significant security bug.

According to TechCrunch,a flaw in the app allowed people to access calls from other users,transcripts and metadata about calls. Per neon’s terms of service users who submit their phone recordings grant the company the right and license to “sell, use, host, store, transfer” and also publicly display, reproduce and distribute the details “in any media formats and through any media channels.”

Neon founder Alex Kiam had confirmed the exposed data in an email to CNET last week. “We took down the servers as soon as TechCrunch informed us,” he said.

At the time, Neon stated that it was pausing the app to “add extra layers of security.” An email to users said: “You will not be able to make calls or cash out, and the app will temporarily display $0 in your account, but your money has not disappeared. The app will be back online soon.”

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Before the app went offline,a legal expert warned against using it.

David Hoppe, founder and managing partner of Gamma Law, which advises clients on technological issues, told CNET that because some states have consent rules on recording phone calls, anyone who uses Neon should be cautious or avoid it entirely. If users do

Neon App Records Calls to Train AI,Raises Privacy Concerns

Training AI using your data

According to the company’s FAQ, the call data it collects is anonymized and used to train AI voice assistants. “This helps train their systems to understand diverse, real-world speech,” it says. AI companies need increasing amounts of data to train their models.

“The industry is hungry for real conversations as they capture timing, filler words, interruptions and emotions that synthetic data misses, which improves the quality of AI models,” said Zahra Timsah, CEO of I-you have, which works in AI compliance.

“But that doesn’t give apps a pass on privacy or consent,” Timsah said.

Pushing legal limits

Neon claims it only uses recordings from one side of the phone conversation – the caller’s – which appears to be an attempt to avoid state laws prohibiting call recording without permission.

Many states only require one person on a call to be aware that a call is being recorded. Though, others, including California, Florida and Maryland, require consent from all parties. Its unclear how Neon functions with calls to those states. For Neon-to-Neon calls, two-party consent would likely be implied.

The app reportedly doesn’t record standard phone calls, only those made within the Neon app or received from another Neon user.

TechCrunch first reported on Neon’s data practices.