Have you ever wondered what happens to your conversations with Siri? Obviously your queries are sent over the internet to Apple’s servers for processing, but what then? Does Apple store these conversations? Does anyone have access to them?
These questions seem to be heavy on the mind of IBM’s Jeanette Horan, as the CIO recently told MIT’s Technology Review that her company has banned Siri from their network over fears that the assistant could be logging sensitive information…
Well as Wired points out, Horan has the right to worry:
“How long does Apple store all of this stuff, and who gets a look at it? Well, the company doesn’t actually say. Again, from the user agreement: “By using Siri or Dictation, you agree and consent to Apple’s and its subsidiaries’ and agents’ transmission, collection, maintenance, processing, and use of this information, including your voice input and USer Data, to provide and improve Siri, Dictation, and other Apple products and services.”
Of course, it’s fairly common knowledge [we think] that Apple uses Siri data to improve the service. And any issues regarding the security of that data could be applied to any internet company that processes information: Facebook, Google, Bing, etc.
But as internet privacy seems to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds these days, something tells us that this isn’t the last we’ve heard of these Siri data complaints. Perhaps, like Google, Apple will eventually be forced to anonymize the queries.
Think about all of the conversations you’ve had with Siri. Are you worried that someone might be reading them?