Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged the company’s Siri interactions were recorded without users’ consent. However, Apple maintains that its privacy protections have never been used for targeted advertising.
The lawsuit stemmed from a 2019 report in the Guardian that revealed Apple’s use of contractors to “grade” Siri interactions. The whistleblower claimed that those contractors would regularly hear private interactions from users as part of their work providing “quality control” for Siri.
Apple initially responded by saying that less than 1% of daily Siri activations were used for “grading” and that these interactions were bound by a strict confidentiality agreement. The company also announced changes to Siri’s privacy protections, including the option for users to opt-in to help Siri improve without sharing recordings with Apple.
Despite this, conspiracy theories claiming that Siri is always listening and spying on users for targeted advertising have persisted. However, Apple says these claims are unfounded and that its Siri data has never been used to build marketing profiles or sold to anyone.
In a statement, an Apple spokesperson said that Siri has protected user privacy from the beginning and that its data is only used to improve Siri. The company emphasizes its use of Private Cloud Compute infrastructure, which ensures privacy protections, and allows third-party researchers to access the technology.
Apple’s settlement of this lawsuit does not change the fact that its previous measures were in place before the lawsuit was filed. However, the company has continued to double down on Siri’s privacy protections since then. With its recent statement, Apple is attempting to debunk the conspiracy theories and reassure users that their interactions with Siri are secure.
Source: https://9to5mac.com/2025/01/06/siri-privacy-listening-targeted-advertising