Apple Adds Option to Delete Siri History and Opt Out of Sharing Audio Recordings in iOS 13.2

[MacRumors]

Today's iOS 13.2 beta introduces a new option that allows iPhone and iPad users to delete their Siri and Dictation history and opt out of sharing audio recordings, features that Apple promised after being called out for its Siri quality evaluation processes.

Earlier this year, it was discovered that Apple hired contractors to listen to a small percentage of anonymized Siri recordings to evaluate Siri's responses with the purpose of improving the assistant's accuracy and reliability.

A report from one of those contractors who spoke to The Guardian said that the employees working on Siri "regularly" heard "confidential details" while listening to the audio recordings. The contractor also criticized Apple for not making it clear to consumers that some of their Siri recordings were being used for evaluation purposes.

Following the report, Apple suspended its Siri grading practices and told users that it would introduce tools allowing them to opt out of sharing their audio recordings.

iOS 13.2 brings multiple Siri-related privacy features as promised. When installing iOS 13.2, there's a new splash screen to opt out of sharing audio recordings, with Apple clearly explaining how those recordings are used.

Help Improve Siri and Dictation by allowing Apple to store and review audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions on this iPhone and on any connected Apple Watch or HomePod. You can change this later in the settings for each device.

This data is not associated with your Apple ID, and will only be stored for a limited period.

In the Privacy section of the Settings app, there is indeed an option to turn off the "Improve Siri & Dictation" setting, plus there's a new setting in the Siri section of the Settings app that lets recordings be deleted entirely.

Delete Siri & Dictation interactions currently associated with this iPhone from Apple servers. Data that has been sampled to help improve Siri and Dictation is no longer associated with this iPhone and will not be deleted.

In addition to these new Siri and Dictation-related privacy features added in iOS 13.2, Apple also says that it is making further changes to its human grading process that will minimize the amount of data that reviewers have access to.

Article Link: Apple Adds Option to Delete Siri History and Opt Out of Sharing Audio Recordings in iOS 13.2

 

[dmx]

Does this delete Siri Suggestions (in spotlight?) I have found no way to delete these, which are based on your searches/maps history/etc.

 

[iGeneo]

People complain and Apple acts..

Well done!

 

[jsmith189]

Just saying, hope anyone that does this doesn't also complain about how bad Siri is.

 

[Justin Cymbal]

The Siri dictation works really well on the iPhone. I’ve been using it since the iPhone 4s came out back in 2011.

I don’t mind sharing the information with Apple as long as it helps the software work but I can understand why many iPhone users would not want to share that information with them considering the recent news that contractors listened in on Siri recordings...

 

[dominiongamma]

People complain and Apple acts..

Well done!

Apple should have done this since day 1.

 

[Unami]

Didn‘t they promise to make it „opt-in“?

 

[Elwe]

I don’t mind sharing the information with Apple as long as it helps the software work but I can understand why many iPhone users would not want to share that information with Apple considering the recent news that contractors listened in on Siri recordings...

To me, this is part of the heart of the matter for many of the companies. *I* do mind. I would much rather the platforms get better a little less quickly than give up privacy in this regard. But I realize others disagree. So the best thing is for companies to offer the choice. If Apple hits a road-block for an offering there is no way around, then I think they should have a toggle that says effectively "if you turn this on, Siri will be better in these ways. But in these ways, you will have less privacy. It is up to you."

I know companies like Apple could easily survive as a business doing this as they make money in other ways. But for a company like Facebook, they simply would have to cease operating the way they currently do. There might be "two" Facebooks as a result, which would be entirely fine with me but probably not with many others.

 

[StellarVixen]

People complain and Apple acts..

Well done!

I still don’t like they had to be caught red handed to actually take action.

If they weren’t discovered, how long would they continue doing this?

to expand, first of all, I don’t even use Siri at all. But I am amazed at people who want the Siri to be as good as Alexa or Google Assistant, but then they are shocked when something like this happens!


People, smart assistants require a LOT of data in order to work the way you want them to work. End of story.

 

[iGobbleoff]

Didn‘t they promise to make it „opt-in“?

Agreed. These actions should all be “opt-in”

 

[Justin Cymbal]

Just saying, hope anyone that does this doesn't also complain about how bad Siri is.

I find that Siri works really well for things like setting an alarm in the morning or checking sports scores if you’re into that, other than that I only use Siri for a couple other things...

 

[ersan191]

There’s also a huge full screen splash page about it on tvOS, and neither option is default.

 

[kahkityoong]

I got excited when I thought it was giving me the option to delete Siri.

 

[sdf]

Does this delete Siri Suggestions (in spotlight?) I have found no way to delete these, which are based on your searches/maps history/etc.

Don't see why it would. Those are local, nothing to do with sharing with Apple. Pretty sure you can turn them off in Siri & Search, though (look under Siri Suggestions).

[automerge]1570730799[/automerge]

I got excited when I thought it was giving me the option to delete Siri.

You've been able to turn off Siri since the beginning, of course, so I assume this is a troll for likes.
[automerge]1570730946[/automerge]

Didn‘t they promise to make it „opt-in“?

You need to turn on Siri when you set up an iPhone, right? Depends on the phrasing there (or if there's an extra prompt).

 

[sdf]

People, smart assistants require a LOT of data in order to work the way you want them to work. End of story.

Yes, the only good data is more data.

 

[coolbreeze2]

Oh a new beta is out already. Gotta decide if I want to go back into beta so soon. Apple needs to make this available to all users.

 

[JediStarWars]

Extra points if you can ask Siri to delete it for you.

 

[justperry]

Didn‘t they promise to make it „opt-in“?

Agreed. These actions should all be “opt-in”

It asks when you're starting up from this beta, so it is Opt in.

 

[Bswails]

..Damn anyone else feel like this just kinda gave Apple the excuse for Siri to continue to feel like the worst Assistant of the group?

 

[LuciusWrong]

Extra points if you can ask Siri to delete it for you.

Can we ask Siri to delete....Siri?

 

[fmcshan]

Well done Apple! One of my favorite things about Apple is their high respect and emphasis placed on user privacy.

 

[alexandr]

Can we ask Siri to delete....Siri?

 

[whoknows2597]

Just saying, hope anyone that does this doesn't also complain about how bad Siri is.

I mean, Siri sometimes takes a while to play my music on my HomePods, or says “ I’m having trouble connecting to the internet. For more information, please check the Home App associated with this HomePod.”
It takes Siri about 3 or 4 tries to get the song right until I open and close the Home App. I would prefer if Apple took note of repeated requests and improved them.
I’m staying opted in for this reason.

 

[FlyingDutch]

Who cares about my Siri requests? Apple isn’t an ads company...

 

[FlyingDutch]

..Damn anyone else feel like this just kinda gave Apple the excuse for Siri to continue to feel like the worst Assistant of the group?

Siri definitely isn’t the worst assistant