I understand that this went against Apple’s stance on privacy and that’s why all of the buzz on the topic.
I personally don’t actually care if a person hears me tell Siri to shut up when it is acsidently triggered on my HomePod. Also I wasn’t surprised to hear that humans were behind the speaker system/service grading requests and responses. Sometimes the human interaction is needed. AI isn’t actually all that smart. Humans create the software and put the limitations on it so it can’t become too smart. Nobody’s actual name, contact info, etc was given to the contractors. My advice is to relax and control the things you can control. If you don’t want a smart speaker don’t get one. Ed > On Aug 28, 2019, at 10:29 AM, M. Taylor <mk...@ucla.edu> wrote: > > Apple apologizes for Siri audio recordings, announces privacy changes going > forward > By Chaim Gartenberg, Aug 28, 2019, 11:07am EDT > > Apple has issued a formal apology for its privacy practices of secretly > having human contractors listen to recordings of customers talking to its > Siri digital assistant to improve the service. "We realize we haven't been > fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologize," Apple's > statement reads. > The company also announced several changes to Siri's privacy policy: > First, by default, we will no longer retain audio recordings of Siri > interactions. We will continue to use computer-generated transcripts to help > Siri improve. > Second, users will be able to opt in to help Siri improve by learning from > the audio samples of their requests. We hope that many people will choose to > help Siri get better, knowing that Apple respects their data and has strong > privacy controls in place. Those who choose to participate will be able to > opt out at any time. > Third, when customers opt in, only Apple employees will be allowed to listen > to audio samples of the Siri interactions. Our team will work to delete any > recording which is determined to be an inadvertent trigger of Siri. > > Apple was one of several major tech companies - including Google, Amazon, > Facebook, and Microsoft - that was caught using paid human contractors to > review recordings from its digital assistant, a fact that wasn't made clear > to customers. According to The Guardian's report, those contractors had > access to recordings that were full of private details, often due to > accidental Siri triggers, and workers were said to each be listening to up > to 1,000 recording a day. > In the aftermath of that report, Apple announced that it would suspend the > grading program that would see those recordings reviewed. "We are committed > to delivering a great Siri experience while protecting user privacy," an > Apple spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge at the time. > Previously, Apple policy would keep random recordings from Siri for up to > six months, after which it would remove identifying information for a copy > that it would keep for two years or more. > Per today's announcement, both the non-optional recording and the subsequent > grading policies are now being suspended for good. Apple says it will no > longer keep audio recordings from Siri unless a user specifically opts in. > And in cases where customers do choose to give Apple their data, only Apple > employees will have access (not, it would seem to imply, hired contractors). > The company additionally promises that it will work to delete recordings of > accidental triggers, which The Guardian's report claims were the main source > of sensitive information. > According to Apple's statement, the company plans to resume grading Siri > recordings under those new policies later this fall, following a software > update that adds the new opt-in option to its devices. > > Original Article at: > https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/28/20836760/apple-apology-siri-audio-recordi > ngs-privacy-changes-contractors > > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: > mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at > caraqu...@caraquinn.com > > The archives for this list can be searched at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/000301d55dbd%24babdf130%243039d390%24%40edu. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. 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