Concerns have emerged regarding Siri’s privacy practices, with allegations that users may have been recorded without their knowledge. The League of Human Rights has filed a complaint against Apple, citing violations of privacy and unlawful data collection. Whistleblower Thomas Le Bonniec revealed that human reviewers were used to assess Siri recordings, leading to sensitive content being captured. Apple claims to have shifted to computer-generated transcriptions and denies retaining audio, while facing a class-action lawsuit over unauthorized recordings.
Concerns Over Siri’s Privacy Practices
Whether in their car, living room, or even bed, users of Apple’s voice assistant, Siri, may have been unwittingly recorded, according to allegations by the League of Human Rights (LDH). This NGO has lodged a complaint against an unnamed entity and has formally reported Apple to the Paris prosecutor’s office, as confirmed in a recent statement.
Nathalie Tehio, president of the LDH, clarified that the complaint centers on “violations of privacy and unlawful data collection without user consent.” The alarming revelations came from whistleblower Thomas Le Bonniec, who provided the NGO with evidence from his time working for an Apple subcontractor in Ireland in 2019, where he was exposed to numerous recordings. In light of these claims, Apple promptly asserted that it had implemented significant modifications to Siri’s processes back in August 2019.
Unintended Recordings of Private Moments
Le Bonniec disclosed that Apple employed human reviewers to listen to recordings from Siri to ensure accurate comprehension and enhance functionality. However, he noted that users could be recorded without their knowledge if the assistant was inadvertently activated. This has led to potentially sensitive content being captured, including private conversations and intimate moments.
“We were unaware that Siri could activate without user knowledge at any time,” Tehio commented, highlighting concerns that extend beyond privacy violations to potential infringements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The report submitted alongside the complaint aims to protect the whistleblower under legal provisions and to prompt an investigation into Apple’s data handling practices. “Were they utilizing this data for marketing? We seek clarity on these matters,” she added.
In previous communications, Apple assured customers of their commitment to privacy, stating that they had halted human reviews of Siri recordings in response to user concerns. The company now claims to rely solely on computer-generated transcriptions to enhance Siri’s performance, indicating that they no longer retain any audio recordings of user interactions.
Users also have the choice to opt-in for their audio samples to be used in improving Siri. In instances where Siri is triggered accidentally, those recordings are promptly deleted. Apple emphasizes that users can withdraw from participation at any time and that data processing utilizes random identifiers that are not linked to any user’s identity.
In a related development, Apple faces a class-action lawsuit in California, where it has denied wrongdoing but agreed to a $95 million settlement to resolve accusations from U.S. consumers regarding unauthorized recordings of private conversations through Siri. This settlement, pending judicial approval, mandates Apple to confirm the deletion of such recordings and clarify user options for data storage.
As the landscape of data privacy evolves, other tech giants, such as Amazon, have also faced scrutiny, with the company agreeing to a substantial settlement over similar privacy concerns involving its devices and voice assistant.