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I'm staying opted in. I need Apple to hear the arguments I sometimes have with Siri. Especially with relation to playing the non-explicit versions of songs when I have explicit turned on.

I discovered recently that I can spell at Siri. I think this may be a new development because I've tried before and it didn't work.
 
So long as it is actually anonymized, I don't really care
It was anonymized. But if you said something that broke that anonymity (ie. you said your address, or your name, or anything else in the recording) then it was no longer anonymous. That was the whole point.

You can't have humans listen to the recordings, while respecting privacy, unless there is some sort of strict policy to delete those type of recordings immediately.
 
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Apple's Policy (in my view) : Continue nibbling into your privacy ( just a little .. ), and hope no one notices. If caught, proceed to first deny vehemently, and then offer an ' opt out ' soon. Face a slap on the wrist (maybe). Rinse, Repeat.

I'd draw a flowchart, if I was at my computer :)
 
But as noted previously, sometimes I activate Siri accidentally :rolleyes: by saying something that only sounds to her like "Hey Siri, something-or-other..." Once in awhile what she says back then is almost as good standup comedy, so it's more or less worth that experience.

Honestly I didn't care if Apple wanted to practice on what I was mumbling when Siri ended up saying stuff like "I can't find that album". Maybe I'd have been embarrassed if she had managed to repeat what I actually said after I had accidentally activated her, for example if what followed what she heard as an activation had been my pretty inventive cursing over having dropped a spoon into the pasta sauce... but I can understand how people want to be assured of not having a domestic quarrel (or the make-up session later) recorded for all posterity.
I think there is some awareness that having a listening cylinder in your house is a potential risk. For mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Watch) one can disable 'Hey Siri' and in most situations use Siri just fine. The kitchen, where one frequently might have dirty fingers, 'Hey Siri' via the Homepod or an iPad or iPhone or Watch can be of significant use but in all other rooms, not having 'Hey Siri' enabled devices around is a reasonable precaution.
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Apple's Policy (in my view) : Continue nibbling into your privacy ( just a little .. ), and hope no one notices.
Yeah they started nibbling in 2014 with Hey Siri. And nothing else since (apart from bugs).
 
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You're forgetting that Siri has to be listening to EVERYTHING in order to respond to Siri requests.

The little loop that runs continually to respond to "Hey Siri" is not the main Siri program. It is just a little loop that does one thing. And it does not require any remote processing just to do that one simple thing.
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Which brings up the point as whether even if Siri had zero human review, wouldn't we be around Android devices other people are using often enough that a lot could 'leak' that way?

You should always check to make sure the other person is an iPhone user, before you have sex with them. Be safe!
 
The fact that all you ever seem to do in these forums is criticize Apple makes you the boy who cried wolf. In fairness, a broken clock is right twice a day...

That’s because that’s all you choose to see.... you should look at other posts beyond front page news articles, but you can judge a book by its cover if you so wish to. I’m not fussed either way what you think.
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You seem really strangely excited about this... Which if you are excited about this it must mean you're not an Apple fan and if you're not an Apple fan then why are you on an Apple-centric website? Differing views are cool, but you just seem overly giddy about this...

So because I found it hilariously hypocritical of all the hard core fans on here, burying Amazon and Google under a barrage of hate comments and how they are evil and record what you say and listen to it, and then Apples found to be WORST because they have been doing EXACTLY the same, yet not allowing you to opt out, I’m not an Apple fan. What a narrow opinion you have.
Sorry if it upsets you that some people don’t blindly follow Apple, this is a forum beyond the front page news articles...
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Go read their policies on Siri. It’s all there.

And so does it tell you that your recordings will be listened to to enhance the service when you set Siri up? Or is it buried in a 2 thousand word licensing agreement? Because Amazon tell you and ask if you want to opt out....
 
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Might help accidental Siri activations if they let us create our own “hey Siri”.

I believe they do. I remember when I first got Siri that I had to say "Hey Siri" a few times to train it. That stays on the phone.
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Apple's Policy (in my view) : Continue nibbling into your privacy ( just a little .. ), and hope no one notices. If caught, proceed to first deny vehemently, and then offer an ' opt out ' soon. Face a slap on the wrist (maybe). Rinse, Repeat.

I'd draw a flowchart, if I was at my computer :)

I don't see any grand plot. There has to be some compromise between absolute privacy and getting anything done. As long as my bank accounts are safe then I don't mind if Apple knows I like pineapple pie. I hear stories of people being ad targeted but Amazon still thinks I want to buy chandeliers.
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You should always check to make sure the other person is an iPhone user, before you have sex with them. Be safe!

Phone condoms?
 
Just because you took their policy one way doesn't mean the average joe did too. Apple is a generally transparent and upfront company, ESPECIALLY when it comes to privacy. They should have been clearer that they listen to recordings, even if they did "nothing wrong."

This is not unlike throttle-gate. Basically do something sort of shady, get caught, have an opt out option, then get sued.
Yes, this is exactly like that and it’s getting tiring. Apple should not be doing shady things in the first place, instead of having someone figure it out, cause a mini-scandal, and then change the policy to more transparency. There’s nothing wrong with listening to Siri recordings (or throttling cpus to avoid crashes) so long as customers KNOW AND AGREE.
I fear this is type of thing is becoming the norm for Apple, and who knows what will be next. I predict they’ll be capturing data about us “on device” of course, to give us ads for all their new services.

I will be opting out as soon as this update comes. I turned off hey Siri when it happened and now I can’t control volume on my AirPods. Why is there no way to configure taps to control volume on settings?
 
You dont know if the phone is recording you or not... its controlled by software. Apple can decide or be required to record you... So turning off a button might make you feel ok- but really you're getting whatever the software wants to do- or the controllers of that software.

All true but it is bordering on paranoia. Your cable box, TV, microwave could be listening. Why would anyone be interested in what I'm saying anyway? (Full disclosure: I covered my iMac camera once I was sure it worked)
 

Yeah but none of that says that Apple will have employees listening to it. It is saying that the processing of said request is handled by Apple. They should include they would keep it around for their own ways of improving the services.
That is splitting hairs to think that meant that humans would be listening in and it would be used to save until later for their own uses.
 
You dont know if the phone is recording you or not... its controlled by software. Apple can decide or be required to record you... So turning off a button might make you feel ok- but really you're getting whatever the software wants to do- or the controllers of that software.
Sure, and somebody might have broken into my apartment and installed listening devices. You have to differentiate between normal operating conditions and targeted attacks. The whole thread has been only about the former until you tried to change the subject.
 
That’s because that’s all you choose to see.... you should look at other posts beyond front page news articles, but you can judge a book by its cover if you so wish to. I’m not fussed either way what you think.
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So because I found it hilariously hypocritical of all the hard core fans on here, burying Amazon and Google under a barrage of hate comments and how they are evil and record what you say and listen to it, and then Apples found to be WORST because they have been doing EXACTLY the same, yet not allowing you to opt out, I’m not an Apple fan. What a narrow opinion you have.
Sorry if it upsets you that some people don’t blindly follow Apple, this is a forum beyond the front page news articles...
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And so does it tell you that your recordings will be listened to to enhance the service when you set Siri up? Or is it buried in a 2 thousand word licensing agreement? Because Amazon tell you and ask if you want to opt out....
It tells you on their Siri privacy page. Go read it. It’s not long
 
Have Google or Amazon suspended human review in the past and promised an opt-out option?
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So what exactly should they have done? Have no human reviewers and if Siri doesn't understand a user let that be the users problem (she or he should try to speak more clearly or rephrase their query in a way that Siri is already programmed to understand)?
Transparency. Allow users to opt in, not opt out. Literally 0 was said about said program. Apple could have probably put some fears at ease if they talked about some of the limits they put on the program.

Instead they hide it.
 
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yes sir 100%. I think all (Google, etc) should have a opt in and not to opt out.

Google *is* opt-in.


"When setting up a Google account, the option for voice and audio activity is set to off by default. Users have to opt in to store recordings on the account"
 
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The masses: We demand you make Siri better
Apple: Ok, well do that. In order to do that we need people to listen to randomizes clips of real audio from Siri users.
The masses: UNACCEPTABLE! We demand you make it better but not that way.
Apple: That’s literally impossible but fine whatever, well let you opt out.

If you use Siri but opt out you are leeching off anyone who stays, and when enough people opt out they won’t actually be able to improve Siri, so kudos. Great job you selfish paranoids.


Apple has had eons to improve SIRI, but has adamantly chosen not to do so. Every utterance that can be recorded has been many times over. Pathetic SIRI hasn’t killed the iPhone yet, but she’s working on it as hard as she can!
 
It was anonymized. But if you said something that broke that anonymity (ie. you said your address, or your name, or anything else in the recording) then it was no longer anonymous. That was the whole point.

You can't have humans listen to the recordings, while respecting privacy, unless there is some sort of strict policy to delete those type of recordings immediately.
I'm sure there is a policy for the human reviewers to never divulge anything personal they hear in the recordings to anybody, but how to control what they gossip about in their coffee break isn't straightforward (unless Apple had people listening in on their conversations). And even if they were required to hit the delete button as soon as they hear something too personal, they still would have heard it before they could recognise it as something too personal.

And the user saying a name or address could actually be part of a legitimate Siri query. One could prevent humans from hearing things like addresses by filtering them out with the help of Siri but that won't be 100% perfect either. And creating a list of things identified as too personal for human ears wouldn't be easy, not least since those recordings reviewed by humans would need to include exactly those where Siri failed to understand what was meant.

I'm sure there are a lot of relatively small steps that could be taken to minimise that human reviewers hear things that are too personal. But that will never be perfect, something will always slip through. The only thing that can be done for people with a zero tolerance for anything private about them being potentially listened to by other humans is for them to opt out of human review (an option that Apple has just said it will add). Disabling 'Hey Siri' probably can reduce that risk already today significantly but that reduces the usefulness of a HomePod a lot.
 
So because I found it hilariously hypocritical of all the hard core fans on here, burying Amazon and Google under a barrage of hate comments and how they are evil and record what you say and listen to it, and then Apples found to be WORST because they have been doing EXACTLY the same, yet not allowing you to opt out, I’m not an Apple fan. What a narrow opinion you have.
You assume that the people who criticised Amazon then and those that defend Apple now are the same people. They could very well come from two different groups.
 
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So long as it is actually anonymized, I don't really care
I used to think this... until a few weeks ago. A study was published stating that there are publicly available datasets that 'anonymous' data can be compared with and with surprisingly little info can lead to a match. So think about a husband/wife having a conversation, using first names. Those names and geo location could be bumped against marriage license data and the couple id'd.
 
I used to think this... until a few weeks ago. A study was published stating that there are publicly available datasets that 'anonymous' data can be compared with and with surprisingly little info can lead to a match. So think about a husband/wife having a conversation, using first names. Those names and geo location could be bumped against marriage license data and the couple id'd.
Preventing the human reviewers from 'exporting' any data from their workplace should be a no-brainer step. Sure, we cannot stop them from 'exporting' data via their brains (ie, remember things) but there will always be residual risks.
 
With the exception of a few key phrases, Siri gets most things wrong. Worse yet, anytime I say the sentence "Are you serious?", my HomePods starting saying "I'm sorry, I didn't get that."

I really outta turn Siri off for good. Its more of hassle than it ever is a help.
 
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