Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Apple apologizes for listening to Siri conversations

Apple apologizes for listening to Siri conversations

Apple apologizes for a Siri grading program. The company had been allowing contractors to listen to a small percentage of the things people spoke to Siri. It suspended the program but will relaunch it this fall, letting users opt in if they want to help Apple improve Siri.

Apple on Wednesday apologized for its “Siri grading program,” which allowed contractors to review a small percentage of the things people spoke to its Siri voice assistant. The company said it will enable a few changes that give users more control over how their Siri requests are handled.

The program was halted earlier this month after The Guardian reported on July 26 that some of the workers who were reviewing Siri requests heard personal medical details, drug deals and more. Apple does most of its Siri processing on the device, however, instead of sending it to the cloud as Amazon and Google do.

Still, there’s no way to find out if you might have been among the small percentage of people whose questions to Siri were heard by people working for Apple. Apple also doesn’t let you review the questions you’ve asked Siri, a feature that both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant offer.

In a post to its site, Apple said that, by default, it will “no longer retain audio recordings of Siri interactions” but that it will still use “computer-generated transcripts to help Siri improve.” Users will be able to opt in to help Apple improve Siri, and those who do will also be able to opt out whenever they want to.

Apple also said that only its own employees, not outside contractors, “will be allowed to listen to audio samples of the Siri interactions,” and that the team will “delete any recording which is determined to be an inadvertent trigger of Siri.” According to a report from The Guardian on Wednesday, Apple laid off more than 300 contractors who were working on Siri grading in Europe.

“These transcriptions are associated with a random identifier, not your Apple ID, for up to six months,” according to a new Siri Privacy and Grading page that Apple published on Wednesday. “If you do not want transcriptions of your Siri audio recordings to be retained, you can disable Siri and Dictation in Settings.”

The page also explained that Apple’s grading process reviewed less than 0.2% of Siri requests. It used grading to “measure how well Siri was responding and to improve its reliability.”

 “For example, did the user intend to wake Siri? Did Siri hear the request accurately? And did Siri respond appropriately to the request? By using grading across a small sample of Siri requests over time, Apple can make big improvements that help ensure that our customers around the world have the best Siri experience possible,” Apple’s new Siri privacy page says.

Amazon also grades how well Alexa performs, but lets users opt out of the program, which is enabled by default. Google suspended a similar practice in Europe earlier this month. In July, Google admitted that contractors leaked more than 1,000 voice recordings from Google Assistant, and voices in the clips were identifiable by what was spoken, according to Belgian news site VLT.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Spain and Morocco Trade Blame After 72,000 Migrants Enter Ceuta
AI Is Remaking the US Economy, From GDP Growth to iPhone Prices
Europe’s Heat and Drought Are Now Disrupting Power, Shipping and Tourism
Europe’s Drying Rivers Trigger Power Cuts, Factory Shutdowns and Wildfire Emergencies
Record-Low Danube Forces Nuclear Cuts and Emergency Power Curbs
Danube Drought Forces Hungary’s Paks Nuclear Plant Into Full Shutdown
Ceuta Death Toll Rises as Spain and Europe Clash Over Border Response
Valued at $109 Million: F-35B Fighter Jet Crashes in Southern California
Record-Low Danube Exposes Probable Mammoth Remains in Bulgaria
US Says It Has Carried Out Heavy Strikes on Iran After Attempted Attacks on Its Forces
The AI User Nightmare: Private Claude Conversations Leaked to the Internet
Over 24 Hours in the Air: Qantas Airbus Completes Record-Breaking Test Flight
Massive Wildfires Ravage Southern Europe: Fatalities in Greece and Evacuations Across France, Spain, and Turkey
Nvidia Reportedly Takes Vast Texas Data-Centre Lease to Underwrite AI Expansion
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Apple Briefly Crosses Five Trillion Dollar Valuation as Investors Retreat From AI Bets
Fresh Heatwave Threatens to Rekindle France’s Historic Wildfire Crisis
Following OpenAI's Cyberattack: 'Most Companies Still Do Not Understand What Is Coming'
OpenAI Sued After ChatGPT Allegedly Discouraged Emergency Care Before Near-Fatal Embolism
Miliband Sets Climate and International Law at Centre of UK Diplomacy
Czech Central Bank Governor Rejects Early Euro Entry and Rate-Cut Pressure
Trump Readies New Tariffs as Temporary Global Levy Nears Expiry
Vivienne Westwood Casts Cicciolina, 74, in Its New Autumn Campaign
Dejavu: Germany’s Military Expansion Reshapes Europe’s Strategic Balance With France
Morgan Stanley Builds a Wall Street Lead in AI Infrastructure Finance
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Trump Draws Boos and Podium Scrutiny at Spain’s World Cup Triumph
Brilliant move: Péter Magyar Moves to Nominate Chess Grandmaster Judit Polgár as Hungary’s President
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Current AI Seeks to Build an Open Global AI Infrastructure Outside Big Tech Control
Germany’s Economic Malaise Reopens the Sunday Shopping Debate
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Netherlands Declares Water Shortage Emergency After Drought Pushes Rivers to Historic Lows
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
China’s Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Narrows the Gap With Anthropic Through Scale, Openness and Lower Cost
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Trump Administration Pressures Banks to Restrict Financial Access for Undocumented Immigrants
Passenger Bound for Germany Refused to Sit Beside a Woman on a Plane — Then Slapped a Flight Attendant
Ukraine’s Leadership Rift Spills Into the Streets as Protesters Target Army Chief
Ukrainian Drone Barrage Kills Eight and Strikes Russian Logistics Network
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
The Monaco Bombing Has Become a Test of Ukraine’s Intelligence Accountability
Leadership Change and Strategic Rivalry Redraw the Political Map
The AI Race Enters Its Infrastructure Era
Britain Nationalises British Steel to Protect Scunthorpe Production and Strategic Supply
French National Assembly Overrides Senate to Pass Historic Assisted-Dying Legislation
×