Apple Contractors Listened to 1,000+ Siri Recordings Per Shift

[JPack]

Did you forget the part where they suspended the entire program because of the media uproar? Why would it still be in the SLA or on the privacy page anymore if it’s not being used?

If it isn't being used, then why are contractors still listening to recordings?

The fact of the matter is, there is NO mention of Siri recordings in the current Privacy Policy nor in the iOS 12 Software License Agreement.

https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/
https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/iOS12.pdf

 

[apolloa]

same ole story- Apple gets caught red handed doing something sneaky then once they're caught they back track and say it's all a misunderstanding (while stopping what they were doing).

I have a novel idea! Why not not do stuff that'll get you into hot water in the first place instead of doing it and waiting to get caught?

And lying about it and attempting to slander the competition for doing the same things it does!

Wonder how far Apple will go trumpeting something they don’t do but the competition does, only to be caught out for doing it, before someone like Google or Amazon sues them, or makes an official complaint to a regulator? It seems to be the road Apple is heading down possibly?

 

[mi7chy]

Apple's privacy marketing was good while it lasted. Too bad lies eventually get exposed.

 

[TeeHawkZ32]

If it isn't being used, then why are contractors still listening to recordings?

The fact of the matter is, there is NO mention of Siri recordings in the current Privacy Policy nor in the iOS 12 Software License Agreement.

https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/
https://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/iOS12.pdf

Contractors have not been listening to recordings since early August just after this story broke for the second time (first was in 2015 per the article I shared earlier).

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/07/26/siri-human-analysis-voice-recordings/

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/08/02/apple-suspending-siri-grading-program/

Again; There is no mention of the practice in the current SLA or Privacy pages because the practice is no longer in use.

 

[Tech198]

Did everyone decided to look at each other and say "That's sounds like a good idea"

Amazon, Google, and now Apple, all in the span reported of the same 12 months

Apple's privacy marketing was good while it lasted. Too bad lies eventually get exposed.

And that's exactly why i never trust company 100%....

We go through believing privacy policies for what they are at the time, then this happens, and we all start to worry...

We should be understanding "What info will [companies] be able to do/access", and not "what info can they do after the fact" when we no longer have it. It's too late by then.

 

[apolloa]

Did everyone decided to look at each other and say "That's sounds like a good idea"

Amazon, Google, and now Apple, all in the span reported of the same 12 months

No it’s how AI works, you have to teach it, otherwise it’s as dumb as a rock... Google though let you opt in, Amazon also advised you when you set up Alexa, Apple just put some vague wording in its T&C’s, a bit like with its battery scandal, apparently, then went on some big ad campaign promoting privacy...

 

[JPack]

Contractors have not been listening to recordings since early August just after this story broke for the second time (first was in 2015 per the article I shared earlier).

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/07/26/siri-human-analysis-voice-recordings/

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/08/02/apple-suspending-siri-grading-program/

Again; There is no mention of the practice in the current SLA or Privacy pages because the practice is no longer in use.

Can you read?

Apple's Privacy Policy was updated on May 9, 2019. It does not mention Siri recordings being sent to Apple.

The contract work reportedly stopped in August 2019.

 

[Tech198]

No it’s how AI works, you have to teach it, otherwise it’s as dumb as a rock... Google though let you opt in, Amazon also advised you when you set up Alexa, Apple just put some vague wording in its T&C’s, a bit like with its battery scandal, apparently, then went on some big ad campaign promoting privacy...

yea, but teaching does not imply listening to everyone's conversations. Where do you draw the line in the same "its a privacy invasion" from "we can improve it" ?

Just about anything that also violate about privacy is also backed by "improving the way it works"

..or is there even a line anymore

 

[JPack]

Apple's privacy marketing was good while it lasted. Too bad lies eventually get exposed.

This story is just like the battery controversy. Failure to disclose.

It wouldn't be a big story if Apple disclosed it in their current Privacy Policy or Software License Agreement. Instead, Apple pretends nothing is transmitted and only non-identifiable analytics are sent.

 

[acocke]

But.... but.... that billboard that read what’s on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone I took that to heart! Blast I feel so used!!!! #hehe

 

[Madmic23]

Canadian accents are distinguishable from American ones, eh?

We say "please" and "thank you" when making Siri requests.

 

[mw360]

Am I the only person who thought this was happening, right from the beginning? Didn't somebody say it in the first launch? Every time I've spoken to Siri I've done so under the assumption that 'this conversation is being recorded for training purposes'.

 

[macfacts]

That’s what they did. Contractors or employees would do the same job.

Those contractors apple hired were not saying "hey Siri" and using Siri.

 

[Defthand]

Personally, I don't feel compromised by this QA process. As long as my anonymity is preserved, I couldn't care less if Apple, Google, or Amazon audits my interactions with its services.

What I do object to is Apple's habitual half-truths and rationalizations. Anonymity and privacy are not synonyms! If you're on the other side of a wall and I can overhear your activities, I can gain knowledge about you without knowing who you are. Your identity is preserved, but your privacy was not.

 

[Rogifan]

According to The Verge it was actually 1000 recordings for EACH employee..

http://www.theverge.com/2019/8/23/20830120/apple-contractors-siri-recordings-listening-1000-a-day-globetech-microsoft-cortana

So as they’ve reportedly laid off 300 data analysts due to Apple stopping this after being exposed, that was at least 300,000 recordings per day being listened to....

But I’m sure people will defend this on here who lost attempting to claim google and Amazon are evil...

What was the unique identifier to a specific individual?

 

[Yr Blues]

I always curse at Siri because it's so dumb. I hope they take it personally, whoever's listening. I stopped using it a while back. It's creepy.

 

[Take Flight]

I expect apple to hire actual beta testers to use Siri.

Why can’t these companies just use any speech audio to improve speech recognition? That’s what I don’t understand. Not sure why they have to invade privacy of users to improve speech AI.

 

[-DMN-]

I just assumed that this practice was part of the "send analytics to Apple" checkbox when you activate any new Apple device. It wasn't like the contractors were continuously monitoring people's audio; they were simply checking Siri's response when a query was made in order to improve Siri's accuracy. No one was able to connect someone's name with the query. I can see why this makes good fodder for the media, but IMO it's being overblown.

So your okay with strangers listening to you having sex our private conversations with out you ever knowing about it?

 

[twennywonn]

Im so sick of this narrative with all the voice assistance spying on us. How do you think AI learns? It needs help from humans.

 

[TLNZstudios]

to recap from Apple. your privacy comes first... so much for that line of bs. Apple just ask. I'm sure you'll find hundreds of thousands of volunteers to help you with So Siri and Ai program. just be up front. do a sandbox MacOs or such. just ask people to help. I'd do it that way.

 

[Defthand]

Apple's privacy ad would be more accurate and honest if it said "What happens in the Garden, stays in the Garden." Or "What happens outside our Garden is not our concern." I'll wager most Apple devotees would be content with that compromise.

 

[macfacts]

Why can’t these companies just use any speech audio to improve speech recognition? That’s what I don’t understand. Not sure why they have to invade privacy of users to improve speech AI.

Apple could have teamed up with a tv/movie studio and have Siri try to recognize the spoken audio in shows or movies and compare with the closed captioning text.

 

[thadoggfather]

Once again, I’ll repeat. You pressed “I Accept”. Have you ACTUALLY read the Software Licensing Agreement? I think you’d be surprised how transparent Apple is.

Huh. There it is right there on page 3 in BOLD;



This is old news. Can we quit with the necroposting?

https://bgr.com/2015/03/13/siri-recording-voice-conversations/

What are you talking about with EULAs?

The fact is for a privacy centric company this doesn’t look all that great. Period.

Yell at me
All you want doesn’t change that the optics are not ideal for them. Looks like they’re caught with their pants down

People hit “I agree” have some contractors listen to them have sex? That’s weird ...

 

[Rob_2811]

Contractors have not been listening to recordings since early August just after this story broke for the second time (first was in 2015 per the article I shared earlier).

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/07/26/siri-human-analysis-voice-recordings/

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/08/02/apple-suspending-siri-grading-program/

Again; There is no mention of the practice in the current SLA or Privacy pages because the practice is no longer in use.

It wasn't in their privacy statement when the story was broken by the Guardian at the end of July. It was still happening then, they suspended it in response to the article.

 

[StyxMaker]

When it’s apple nobody bats an eye

Seems to be a lot of eye batting going on.