Apple has clarified that Siri data has never been used for marketing purposes, shared for advertising, or sold, and it intends to continue developing privacy-enhancing technology. Here’s additional information on this.
Apple has denied using the Siri voice assistant for marketing, advertising, or selling to third parties. The company insists that Siri processes data on the device to preserve consumer privacy. Users have control over their audio data and can choose whether or not to share it for improvement. Following concerns about data sharing with third parties, Apple has said that it is committed to keeping Siri private.
The tech giant has released a statement which says, “Apple has never used Siri data to build marketing profiles, never made it available for advertising, and never sold it to anyone for any purpose. We are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private, and will continue to do so.”
According to the company, it is dedicated to protecting user data through innovative privacy technologies and techniques. Privacy is a core part of Apple’s design process, focusing on data minimisation, on-device intelligence, transparency, control, and strong security protections.
Siri is stated to be designed to handle user requests on the user’s device, protecting privacy and enabling personalized experiences without sending personal information to Apple servers. When a user speaks or types to Siri, the device processes the request wherever possible, such as reading unread messages or making suggestions via widgets and Siri search. Furthermore, the contents of messages are not sent to Apple servers, and audio of user requests is processed exclusively on the device using the Neural Engine unless the user decides to share it with Apple.
Apple disclosed that it cut the amount of data gathered for Siri requests, with the goal of minimising the amount of data utilised for real-time input from Apple servers. Siri searches and requests are not linked to users’ Apple Accounts but instead employ a random identifier associated with a single device. The new method enables improved data tracking without linking it to a user’s identity. Apple does not keep audio recordings of Siri interactions unless users explicitly opt-in to help develop Siri, and these recordings are only used for that purpose. Users may opt-out at any time.
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“With the capabilities provided by Apple Intelligence, we are at the start of a new era for Siri, giving users the ability to get things done effortlessly with built-in intelligence features that make Siri more capable, personal, and helpful every day,” the blog post said.
Apple Intelligence models are designed to protect customers’ privacy and operate exclusively on mobile devices. Private Cloud Compute expands the iPhone’s privacy and security to larger models for intelligence needs. Siri makes use of Private Cloud Compute, which ensures that user data is neither retained nor accessed by Apple and is only utilised to fulfil requests.
