Apple Contractors “Regularly Hear Confidential Details’ on Siri Recordings

Apple uses contractors to listen to Siri recordings to figure out whether Siri responded correctly.  Apple says that these contractors are under non-disclosure agreements and the Siri conversations are not directly tied to the person’s iPhone or Apple credentials.

Still, these people hear about:

• Confidential medical conversations
• People having sex
• Drug deals
• Other likely illegal activities
• Business deals

While they grade Siri on it’s responses, they don’t have to grade it on the subject matter of those conversations.

Apple does not specifically disclose that they hire contractors to listen to your requests, but they did not deny it either.  They say only about one person of the conversations per day are reviewed by humans.  Still, that is likely millions of sound bites.  Per day.

You are probably saying why would someone ask Siri a question while having sex?  Well, the short answer is that they do not.  But Siri can get confused and think that you said the activation word when you did not, hence the recordings.

If you have an iPhone or other Siri enabled Apple device around you, you implicitly consent to Apple recording you and humans listening to that conversation sometimes, whether you asked it to or not.  Siri can be activated accidentally, apparently, by the sound of a zipper.  Really?!

Another way that Siri can be activated is if an Apple Watch detects it has been raised, which could easily happen during drug deals. Or during sex.

So lets assume that you are OK with the possibility, maybe even likelihood that Siri may record you in compromising or private situations.

Does that mean that other people in the room are okay with that?  Like your sec partner.  Who may use your name.

Are other people in the room even aware that they are being recorded?

Is that even legal?  Answer: probably not in states that require two party consent, but I am not aware of a court decision yet,

In some companies, you are not allowed to bring your electronic devices into the building.  You may remember that Snowden required reporters to put their iPhones in the refrigerator to block signals to them.

If you are concerned about the confidentiality of a conversation you are having then you need to ask these questions.  Samsung was forced to put a disclosure on their TVs to this effect after a lawsuit.

Remember, it is not your device that you have to be worried about, it is everyone else within earshot that you should be concerned about.

Not only does this include Siri devices, but it includes any other smart device that has the capability to covertly record.

Source: The Guardian

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