In a blog on Wednesday, Aug 28, Apple apologized to the public regarding recent revelations about Siri recordings and the human contractors who have been listening to them.
The company explained why the practice was being done and described the changes in Siri that would better protect users’ privacy.
Siri Quality Evaluation Process
In recent weeks, voice assistants from various companies have been under scrutiny after past and present contractors revealed that they were listening to recordings of users interacting with voice assistants, some of which were accidental and even contained sensitive information.
In a blog post, Apple clarified that Siri was built to protect user privacy from the beginning and that the data they collect are not being used or sold to any third party. Further, Apple states that it tries to minimize the amount of data collected, and the ones that are collected are only used to improve Siri.
For instance, the recordings are used to measure how well Siri responds to the user’s requests. This includes whether Siri heard the question accurately, if the response was appropriate, and even if the user really did intend to wake Siri.
Privacy Improvements To Siri
That said, Apple apologized to its users, announcing that it has halted the program and began a thorough review of their practices in response to their users’ concerns. It will, however, resume in the fall but only after several changes have been made.
First, the company will no longer retain Siri recordings and only use computer-generated transcripts to help improve Siri. Users will also be able to choose whether or not to participate in the practice by first listening to samples of their requests, and those who choose to opt in can still opt out at any time. Lastly, the recordings of those who will opt in will only be listened to by Apple employees, and any interactions deemed unintended or accidental will be deleted.
“We created Siri to help them get things done, faster and easier, without compromising their right to privacy. We are grateful to our users for their passion for Siri, and for pushing us to constantly improve,” Apple stated, reiterating its commitment to protecting user privacy.
