Hey, Siri! Why voice technology is the future of computing … and surveillance
- Apple’s voice assistant has the power to record private conversations, store and send your audio clips onto third-party, human contractors
- Voice technology is hailed as the future of computing, including voice assistants, voice-recognition technology and ambient computing
This isn’t as simple as a voice assistant “spying” on its users: the report in The Guardian revealed that Apple’s contractors listen to the clips as part of the company’s quality control measures, working out whether Siri was triggered accidentally or on purpose, and whether its response was entirely correct.
This practice is not explicit in Apple’s customer-facing privacy documentation, and because of errors in triggering Siri – “the sound of a zip”, the whistle-blower said, can often set Siri off – contractors end up overhearing private conversations including drug deals, business meetings, sex and medical appointments.
In one way this news is far from shocking – while Apple trades on the belief that high-level security comes included with its products’ high prices, it has always been clear that by using Siri – or any voice assistant – the user must allow their phone to record and analyse their voice. It’s also worth comparing Apple’s approach with that of similar products.
With Google Assistant, the software powering Google Home, audio is recorded and stored, but you can access your history and delete past recordings, and there’s an option to automatically delete your data every couple of months.