siri Siri, you bad boy...

[ThePitt]

Note to Self: Siri Not Just Working for Me, Working Full-Time for Apple, Too

It came as a surprise to some folks at a recent SXSW talk that Apple?s Siri ?personal assistant? isn?t just working for us, it?s working full-time for Apple too by sending lots of our personal voice and user info to Apple to stockpile in its databases. Take a peek at Siri?s privacy policy (which, by the way, is pretty difficult to find) and you?ll realize what?s happening behind the scenes.

What info of yours is being collected and how is it being used? When you use Siri, it?s sending your ?Voice Input Data? and ?User Data? to Apple to be used for a variety of purposes.

Voice Input Data is all the types of data associated with your verbal commands and may also include audio recordings, transcripts of what you said, and related diagnostic data. Apple says this Voice Input Data is being used to process your request and to help Siri better recognize your commands, but it's additionally being used ?generally to improve the overall accuracy and performance of Siri and other Apple products and services.?

Siri also collects ?User Data? that it says gives it more context for your commands, like what you mean by ?Call Dad.? This information can be pretty wide-ranging:

• The names of your address book contacts, their nicknames, and their relationship with you (for example, ?my dad?, or ?work?)
  
• Your first name and nickname
  
• Labels you assign to your email accounts (for example, ?My Home Email?)
  
• Names of songs and playlists in your collection
  

This data can be really personal, like if you ask Siri, "where is the nearest abortion clinic?" And once Voice Input Data and User Data is collected, Apple reserves the right to share it with ?Apple?s partners who are providing related services to Apple.?

Not sure that Siri is worth the serious data it?s collecting and how it might end up getting used? Rather live without Siri? Here?s how to opt out and stop your voice data and user data from continuing to be sent to Apple.

Opting out of Siri

• Tap Settings > General > Siri.
  
• Slide the Siri option to "off."
  

Once you turn off Siri, Apple?s privacy policy says it will delete User Data and any recent Voice Input Data. Though older Voice Input Data that has been already ?disassociated? from you and your device may linger for an undisclosed period of time to ?improve Siri and other Apple products and services.?

https://www.aclunc.org/issues/technology/blog/note_to_self_siri_not_just_working_for_me,_working_full-time_for_apple,_too.shtml

[Scorbing]

So who cares? So Apple wants to have our voice input to feed Siri's intelligence database. Who cares. Google has been doing it for years. Everytime you type a search inquiry on Google guess what? They got you!. Facebook has been doing it for years too. Once you open a FB account guess what? You're screwed because everything you upload, type or put on your FB page, stays at FB, even after you close your account so there. Enjoy your privacy.

[abecedarian paradoxious]

Is Apple going to reimburse users for the wasted cellular bandwidth?

[TAZMINATOR]

If you want privacy, cancel everything you have that is connected to internet or wireless... and stay in amish world which they do not have telephones, cars, smartphones, etc...

Simple.

If you have nothing to hide, then you do NOT have to worry about that. If you hate this new privacy policy, then stay off the internet and mobile devices.

[Phouchg]

Hmm, there's a slight difference. Google (and Bing, Facecrack, Twatter and alike, just to be fair) provides (most of) its consumer services for free, as in "you're the one being sold". Siri is not free, one has to buy Apple's stuff to use it, and, as it turns out, you're still being sold. Then again, that's nothing out of the ordinary regarding the commitment of quite a few (or even most) Appletards.

[Noir Angel]

And this is a surprise to people? The only real way to stay completely private with any service that accesses the internet is to simply not use it. I don't like Apple by any means but this is just another example of living in the age of technical paranoia.

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

Oh no... Apple is trying to better its services by taking the questions asked without answer and coming up with answers for future use. Terrible apple, how dare you try to better yourself!

/sarcasm

Really, who cares? If you don't like companies using your data to better their service, disconnect from the Internet.

[:: Lyon ::]

Like others said, the only way to remain "private" nowadays is to disconnect yourself from the internet

[abecedarian paradoxious]

Oh no... Apple is trying to better its services by taking the questions asked without answer and coming up with answers for future use. Terrible apple, how dare you try to better yourself!

/sarcasm

Really, who cares? If you don't like companies using your data to better their service, disconnect from the Internet.

Really? Who cares? Apparently not you.

In other words:

You're okay with your voice being recorded, your queries being correlated and indexed, and Apple... as well as their 'anonymous' business partners... having access to that data?

Okay.

And you're okay with them knowing who you are?

Okay.

[Simon Veteran]

You're okay with your voice being recorded, your queries being correlated and indexed, and Apple... as well as their 'anonymous' business partners... having access to that data?

Uh, yes? It's all anonymous. And nowhere does it say anything about business partners.

We've known from the beginning that this is the way it works. You say something to Siri, it checks with Apple's servers, interprets what you said, and sends back a response. Same way Google does voice recognition. And not really that big of a deal anyway.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Uh, yes? It's all anonymous. And nowhere does it say anything about business partners.

We've known from the beginning that this is the way it works. You say something to Siri, it checks with Apple's servers, interprets what you said, and sends back a response. Same way Google does voice recognition. And not really that big of a deal anyway.

How can it be anonymous while still knowing who your father is? That statement doesn't make sense...