Apple Suspends Siri Response Grading Program Over Privacy Concerns

A couple of weeks ago, a report from the Guardian revealed that a small percentage of Siri’s conversations were sent to outside contractors to analyze for improvement and quality control. The problem with this program is that it also sent in recordings users made while accidentally triggering Siri, meaning that these are not queries that users wanted to make in the first place.

The idea of a complete stranger listening to your Siri requests can be a bit disconcerting but imagine having a supposed private conversation being heard without your knowing, that’s worse, especially for a company like Apple who seems to pride themselves on consumer privacy. The good news is that it looks like Apple has decided to suspend the program.

Following the concerns raised by the report, Apple has confirmed that they will be suspending its Siri response grading program worldwide. They will be reviewing the entire process for the future and to help make sure that Siri is hearing queries correctly and not being incorrectly invoked.

The company is also expected to issue a software update in the future where it will allow customers to choose whether or not they want to opt-in to the grading process or not. A statement made to TechCrunch reads, “We are committed to delivering a great Siri experience while protecting user privacy. While we conduct a thorough review, we are suspending Siri grading globally. Additionally, as part of a future software update, users will have the ability to choose to participate in grading.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: Privacy, Siri