Apple Confirms Siri Data Has Never Been Sold for Targeted Ads: Your iPhone Isn’t Listening

Apple Confirms Siri Data Has Never Been Sold to Anyone: Here’s What You Need to Know

In a move to put concerns about data privacy to rest, Apple has stated that the data collected by its virtual assistant, Siri, has never been sold to advertisers or used to build a marketing profile of its users. This comes as the company settles a class-action lawsuit related to Siri, which alleged that the virtual assistant had been eavesdropping on Apple users without their knowledge or permission.

Apple’s Reputation for Privacy

Apple has a strong reputation for user privacy, which is built on its ability to work entirely on-device, without sending user data to its servers. The company has also opened up its Private Cloud Compute to security researchers, allowing them to verify the privacy controls of its Apple Intelligence system.

As part of this, Apple’s Siri features work with audio data, which is processed on the company’s servers. However, the company assures that this data is not stored, and transcripts are anonymized and disassociated from users’ Apple Accounts after six months. Audio is only stored if users opt-in to improve Siri, but this feature is not enabled by default.

Key Points to Know

• Siri data has never been sold to advertisers or used to build marketing profiles.
• The data is only used to improve the virtual assistant.
• If you don’t feel comfortable with Siri collecting data, you can turn off Siri and delete your Siri and dictation transcripts.
• Siri data is processed on Apple’s servers, but it is not stored.
• Transcripts are anonymized and disassociated from users’ Apple Accounts after six months.

By addressing the concerns surrounding Siri, Apple aims to move forward from the lawsuit and avoid further costly litigation. The company’s strong reputation for user privacy is built on its commitment to protecting its customers’ data, and this move is a testament to that dedication.

Read More

• Apple’s commitment to user privacy
• How to enable and disable Siri
• How to delete Siri and dictation transcripts
• Learn more about Apple’s Private Cloud Compute