Apple News: Tech Giant Apologizes For Listening To Siri Recordings, Promises Changes

Following revelations leaked by whistleblowers last month, Apple has officially apologized for listening to the Siri recordings of select users.

The listening took place through a previously undisclosed “Siri grading” program, whereby contractors would listen to and grade the efficacy of random Siri sessions. This program was not listed in Apple’s terms of service, and whistleblowers claimed that some of the recordings contained sensitive information or captured intimate situations.

Following an investigation on July 29 from the Guardian, Apple decided to halt the program. In Apple’s post on the matter, they said that the grading program will continue later in the fall, but not without some key changes.

“First, by default, we will no longer retain audio recordings of Siri interactions,” the post states. “We will continue to use computer-generated transcripts to help Siri improve. Second, users will be able to opt in to help Siri improve by learning from the audio samples of their requests. We hope that many people will choose to help Siri get better, knowing that Apple respects their data and has strong privacy controls in place. Those who choose to participate will be able to opt out at any time.”

The final change is that only Apple employees will listen to the recordings, not contractors. Inadvertent triggers of Siri will be deleted promptly. Per these new changes, the Guardian reported on Wednesday that Apple had laid off around 300 grading contractors in Europe.

According to the initial reports, some of these recordings captured sensitive medical information, drug deals and sometimes sexual acts. A major issue flagged by whistleblowers was the fact that many recordings flagged for grading were unintentionally triggered Siri sessions.