Siri class action lawsuit: Apple again emphasizes privacy protection
Following the settlement of a class action lawsuit over possible Siri recordings, an Apple statement underlines where the company stands.
Apple voice assistant Siri: Settlement of class action lawsuit causes uncertainty.
(Image: dpa, Alexander Heinl)
After Apple had already commented to the media last Monday on a multi-million settlement in a US class action lawsuit over the recording of Siri requests over several years, the company followed up a few days later with a public statement on its website. In it, the company emphasized its "long-standing commitment to data privacy with Siri".
Emphasis on Siri "on device"
Among other things, the statement describes how Siri processes data "where possible" on the user's device. This applies to both speaking and typing with Siri. "For example, when a user asks Siri to read unread messages, or when Siri makes suggestions via widgets and Siri Search, the processing is done on the user's device." Message content is also not transmitted to the Apple servers "because it is not necessary for responding to the request".
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The processing of audio –, i.e. the prompt requests –, would also be processed on "capable devices" using the integrated neural engine, "as long as users do not decide to share them with Apple". It is also emphasized that Siri data has "never" been used by Apple to build marketing profiles. The same applies to advertising or the sale of data, "regardless of the purpose". Apple is constantly working on developing technologies that make Siri "even more private".
Data minimization and private cloud compute
It was also stated that Apple is minimizing the amount of data collected per Siri request. If it is necessary to transfer data to the Apple servers, the company tries to use as little information as possible in order to deliver accurate results. In addition, Siri requests and Siri searches are not linked to the Apple account. Instead, there is a random identifier. Audio recordings of requests are also not kept "unless users explicitly opt-in to help improve Siri". Even then, recordings are used "only for this purpose" and can be turned off at any time.
Finally, Apple emphasizes its private cloud compute technology as part of Apple Intelligence. As Siri will also be (or is) part of this, models are used that run entirely on the device and otherwise just PCC. Apple is said to have no access to the calculations performed there, including the queries. However, the settlement of the class action lawsuit was about the fact that Apple had relied on external companies to evaluate Siri recordings, some of which even received "dirty talk" due to incorrect calls. There was no opt-out at the beginning.
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