If you’re doing this from the same WiFi home network, they’d know the two activities are related and possibly done by the same person. This is only one piece of information. They probably use others to narrow it down to a single person performing both activities. Even if it’s not narrowed down to certainly being the same person, if your male of a certain age range, it’s not a bad guess that you are the one doing it.
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Apple Highlights Privacy Commitment After Settling Siri Spying Lawsuit
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It's a nice theory, but do you really believe that?
1- Someone would have to ignore all the horrendous things that have happened historically to whistleblowers and be willing to risk everything, everything.
2- They would have to find someone to listen to them...
This is a crucial point.
I would have seen a showcase from which Browser the ads are shown. Safari, Chrome? And what webpage?
That doesn’t require your phone to listen to you. The port site had trackers on it that fed into ad networks. Ad networks get that and already know you on Facebook. Boom, you get the naughty ads on Facebook.
No reasons not to believe apple on this, but as someone explained quite well above, data can be harvested by third parties in many many ways, and Apple devices, just like any other connected device, are facilitating that.
The point is : what’s wrong about that ? Advertising would be there in any case. It is better to have relevant ads than generic.
The point is : what’s wrong about that ? Advertising would be there in any case. It is better to have relevant ads than generic.
I can’t believe this rumor of secret microphone recordings continue to live. It’s like, it connects to the human primal mind or something: a complex world explained by the much simpler (but technologically impossible to hide) sneaky lies of a 4 trillion dollar company betting their entire goodwill by actions that can be undone by a single whistleblower.
Instead of facing the truth (that our actions are almost entirely predictable based on datapoints) we insist on a much simpler concocted reality. Very human.
Instead of facing the truth (that our actions are almost entirely predictable based on datapoints) we insist on a much simpler concocted reality. Very human.
I don’t use Google for search, I use DuckDuckGo. I don’t use Gmail, I use a niche mail provider. I don’t use Google Maps, I use Apple Maps. (There are exceptions when I travel to a country that Apple Maps does not serve with directions, in which case I use Google maps signed out). I don’t use Facebook. I use Safari private browsing for all generic web searching. I use iCloud private relay which works with Safari to always disguise your IP address. The only Google product I use regularly is YouTube, and I have for years used it signed out but recently created a username just for it.
And I have to say that my ads are always boring and unrelated to anything I want or am doing at the moment. Even on YouTube, the ads are so generic that they are obviously not doing a good job at targeting me. Have I succeeded in being completely anonymous to tech giants? Most likely not. But what I’m doing is having an obvious effect.
And I have to say that my ads are always boring and unrelated to anything I want or am doing at the moment. Even on YouTube, the ads are so generic that they are obviously not doing a good job at targeting me. Have I succeeded in being completely anonymous to tech giants? Most likely not. But what I’m doing is having an obvious effect.
They disassociate the recordings that are sent for human review, because they were unclear or Siri couldn't understand what was being asked, so that Siri can be improved. It is the difference between Siri learning about you and your habits, so "your" Siri can be better tailored to you and Siri not understanding a command and the overriding Siri model being improved to understand more commands and requests.Unfortunately disassociating Siri responses to your device will cause it to be dumber than a bag of rocks.
Well I guess people do have paranoia tendencies don’t they.
If not guilty then there cannot be proof, and therefore settling is foolish PR wise. Apple better appeal if they are innocent. Not a good look.
*typo
*typo
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My bag of rocks can’t even tell me what time it is. Siri can.Unfortunately disassociating Siri responses to your device will cause it to be dumber than a bag of rocks.
AKA they threw a heap of cash at these people to avoid the claim from being tested in court.
IMO it's evident that various apps 'listen' without permission. Siri's frigging stupid so I don't trust it to profile me particularly accurately. However, I'm pretty sure that if not Siri, various other apps listen in on random stuff.
You've gotta remember that this is an app that can hear 'hey Siri, play [kids song for my son]' and be like 'okay... playing [random rapper with explicit lyrics... noting, I frigging hate rap and have requested an age appropriate song]'. Sigh.
That’s just one scenario and an opinion without knowing specific facts of a case. Apple were clearly willing to accept $90M versus $1.5B. I won’t go into Crocodile infested waters to prove a point that I have a right to do it.
The fact that the plaintiffs agreed to the payout could equally be saying, they had no case on the advertisers getting access to those recordings or data.
The lawsuit was about Siri effectively listening when "Hey Siri" wasn’t uttered. In other words, false positives. Which ultimately was the entire point of that program; to make it better. It really comes down to this and that’s what they agreed to. The rest was just leverage to get what they ended up with. Clever lawyering.
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I don't understand why Apple is still worried about this, the privacy battle is already lost since many years. Apple makes great devices, but "Privacy" is not a selling point for me anymore.
Even if it was true, what's the point if they allow privacy-offensive apps to be installed (aka Google as default search engine)?
Even if it was true, what's the point if they allow privacy-offensive apps to be installed (aka Google as default search engine)?
why would they pay if it was not true? shall I file a 95m lawsuit to take advantage of Apple's "generosity"?
$95m to close the case, compared to $500m or more in lawyer fees to keep it going? Simple economics.
Good to see Apple clearing the air. Apple's privacy policies are good compared to others. Anyway good to see that the litigation has come to an end.
Makes me think, those that start legal actions and then settle for an amount of cash were never in it for principles and ideals. They were chasing the money.
Also, what’s “privacy” nowadays? The powers that be might not get our full names, our addresses, countries of origin, amount of salt we like in our scrambled eggs and our exact age to minutes of precision, we could be bundled in groups and obfuscated behind randomized ID numbers… cool, however, in practice we are being Ad targeted with laser focused precision as if they did nevertheless.
Also, what’s “privacy” nowadays? The powers that be might not get our full names, our addresses, countries of origin, amount of salt we like in our scrambled eggs and our exact age to minutes of precision, we could be bundled in groups and obfuscated behind randomized ID numbers… cool, however, in practice we are being Ad targeted with laser focused precision as if they did nevertheless.
Apple today reiterated its commitment to Siri privacy, making it clear that Siri data has never been used to build marketing profiles, nor has any Siri information been made available to advertisers or sold for any purpose.
Apple's newsroom post comes after it settled a class action lawsuit related to Siri for $95 million. Plaintiffs accused Apple of recording conversations captured after accidental Siri activations, and then sharing information from those conversations with third-party advertisers.
Two plaintiffs claimed that after speaking about products like Air Jordan shoes and Olive Garden, their Apple devices showed ads for those products, while another said he received ads for a surgical treatment after discussing it privately with his doctor.
There has never been any indication that Apple shared Siri recordings, and Apple told MacRumors in a statement earlier this week that the lawsuit was settled to avoid additional litigation.
In its full privacy overview, Apple goes into detail on the Siri privacy protections that are in place to keep user data safe. Apple uses on-device Siri processing wherever possible, and minimizes the amount of data that's collected as much as possible.
Siri searches and requests are not associated with an Apple Account and cannot be linked to an individual user, with Apple instead using a random identifier to keep track of data as it's processed.
Apple says that it does not retain audio recordings of Siri interactions unless users explicitly opt in to help improve Siri, and even then, recordings are used just for that purpose.
Article Link: Apple Highlights Privacy Commitment After Settling Siri Spying Lawsuit
Yup I have experienced the same without activating Siri by accident. I couldn't figure out why after talking about diapers or beer or shoes or insurance why those ads would popup on web pages for me and on youtube videos. Eventually I figured out that Apple’s commitment to privacy is a lie. Can I be part of the lawsuit?
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Say what you will, I have been talking about mint tea as much as I can as a test. Now, everywhere I look, there are advertisements for pizza. Did you know that Pizza can be served at the same temperature as mint tea? You can even sip mint tea while eating pizza. IT IS A CONSPIRACY!!!
You got an ad from the world’s largest healthcare provider.
I’m sure they just got there by luck and hard work and surely not because of billions spent in things like targeted advertising.
I also recently got an ad for New Balance and was astounded.
Those kinds of companies would never just carpet bomb us with ads. So I don’t see any other possibility than them spying on me.
/s
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Last year, Apple gave an interview where they discussed this topic. They are also aware that some developers use alternative methods to collect user data. Interestingly, there’s a straightforward way to determine whether someone is being truthful: follow the money. If Apple has profited from this, the financial trail will reveal the truth. On the other hand, companies like Google and Facebook face significant challenges because their business models rely heavily on monetizing user data.
All of you tinfoil hats in here might want to look into how advertising online actually works.
Then also maybe go around to your friends and family (those who don’t use Adblock) and ask if you can maybe watch when they surf around the web to see what ads they get.
Maybe, just maybe, it’s advertisers showering us all with ads for common products and services that relate to most of our common needs and interests and not some Hollywood movie worthy team of secret agents monitoring your every move and sending you a banner ad for Pedigree dog food just after you and your spouse have been arguing about which one to get next time you go to Walmart?
Then also maybe go around to your friends and family (those who don’t use Adblock) and ask if you can maybe watch when they surf around the web to see what ads they get.
Maybe, just maybe, it’s advertisers showering us all with ads for common products and services that relate to most of our common needs and interests and not some Hollywood movie worthy team of secret agents monitoring your every move and sending you a banner ad for Pedigree dog food just after you and your spouse have been arguing about which one to get next time you go to Walmart?
There was no guilt or innocence; it's a settlement, not a judgement. A settlement means you (Apple) has agreed to the terms, as has the other party.
The case is done and can't be appealed.
I suspect that these ads came from somewhere else, rather than Siri (mainly because I don't think Siri is smart enough to determine what people are saying).
I decline cookies all the time, yet I still get ads. Even MacRumors, where I decline cookies and I get no advertising, but then I do the next time I'm on this site.
I decline cookies all the time, yet I still get ads. Even MacRumors, where I decline cookies and I get no advertising, but then I do the next time I'm on this site.