Apple Changes the Way It Listens to Your Siri Recordings Following Privacy Concerns

Apple today announced some major changes to its controversial'Siri audio grading program' following criticism for employing humans to listen to audio recordings of users collected via its voice-controlled Siri personal assistant without their knowledge or consent. The move came a month after The Guardian reported that third-party contractors were regularly listening to private conversations of Apple users giving voice commands to Siri in a bid to improve the quality of its product's response. While the data received by the contractors were anonymized and not associated to Apple devices, the private conversations--which also includes private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, seemingly criminal dealings, people having sex and so on--sometimes reveal identifiable details like a person's name or medical records. In response to the backlash Apple received after the report went public, the company initially responded by temporarily suspending the program earlier this month while it thoroughly reviewed its practices and policies. Now, Apple today revealed that the company intends to continue that program in the fall, but only after making three significant changes to it, as mentioned below: First, Apple will no longer retain audio recordings of Siri interactions by default.