Siri isn't just a pretty voice with the answers. It's also been recording and keeping all the questions users ask.
Exactly what the voice assistant does with the data isn't
clear, but Apple confirmed that it keeps users' questions for up to two
years. Siri, which needs to be connected to the internet to function,
sends all of its users' queries to Apple.
Apple revealed the information after
Wired posted an article
raising the question
and highlighting the fact that the privacy statement for Siri wasn't
very clear about how long that information is kept or what would be done
with it.
Technically Apple keeps Siri user data for six months,
associating that data with the user. After that time, the company will
disassociate users from the data, meaning it will remove any identifiers
for who input that particular query into Siri. But for the next 18
months, Apple said, it keeps the disassociated data for the sake of
product testing and improvement purposes.
The Cupertino, California, tech company didn't return calls
seeking more information, particularly on whether Apple shares the data
with anyone else.
Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller
told Wired that "our customers' privacy is very important to us".
Apple said that if a user turns off Siri, all the stored
queries that are associated with that user over the last six months are
deleted.
To turn off Siri, users can head to the settings app and tap
"General" followed by "Siri". There, users can switch the toggle to the
right of "Siri" from "On" to "Off".
Siri launched with the
iPhone 4S more than a year ago and is now on the iPhone 5, the third- and fourth-generation
iPad, the fifth-generation
iPod Touch and the iPad mini.
Siri isn't just a pretty voice with the answers. It's also been recording and keeping all the questions users ask.
Exactly what the voice assistant does with the data isn't
clear, but Apple confirmed that it keeps users' questions for up to two
years. Siri, which needs to be connected to the internet to function,
sends all of its users' queries to Apple.
Apple revealed the information after
Wired posted an article
raising the question
and highlighting the fact that the privacy statement for Siri wasn't
very clear about how long that information is kept or what would be done
with it.
Technically Apple keeps Siri user data for six months,
associating that data with the user. After that time, the company will
disassociate users from the data, meaning it will remove any identifiers
for who input that particular query into Siri. But for the next 18
months, Apple said, it keeps the disassociated data for the sake of
product testing and improvement purposes.
The Cupertino, California, tech company didn't return calls
seeking more information, particularly on whether Apple shares the data
with anyone else.
Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller
told Wired that "our customers' privacy is very important to us".
Apple said that if a user turns off Siri, all the stored
queries that are associated with that user over the last six months are
deleted.
To turn off Siri, users can head to the settings app and tap
"General" followed by "Siri". There, users can switch the toggle to the
right of "Siri" from "On" to "Off".
Siri launched with the
iPhone 4S more than a year ago and is now on the iPhone 5, the third- and fourth-generation
iPad, the fifth-generation
iPod Touch and the iPad mini.
theage.com.au 22 Apr 2013
More privacy concerns again from Apple.
Companies regularly exchange user data between themselves, and governments behind the user's back.
Privacy laws are implemented only to protect corporations and NOT the masses.
The policy is that every person on the planet is to be transparent.
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