This week, Apple’s latest software update iOS 27 became available. And when users download it, Apple will ask an innocuous question: Do you want to improve Siri?
Users will see a message asking if they want to opt in to “improve foundation models and Siri by allowing Apple to collect and use your text and audio interactions with Siri, Dictation, and Translate.” Users will then have the option to select “Share Audio and Text” or “Not Now.”
One of the core changes with Apple’s latest software upgrade is its artificially intelligent features, particularly with Siri. Under the new Siri AI, Siri can search your messages, photos and emails for answers. And Apple’s new “Siri Recap” feature will also generate “high-level summaries of conversations” that you can review later.
This also means there’s an enormous amount of data produced from using Apple’s virtual assistant Siri in new ways, and Apple would like to use it to improve its Apple products, with your permission. Privacy and cybersecurity experts told HuffPost that users should think twice before quickly agreeing to this arrangement.
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If you opt in to sharing your Siri audio and texts, Apple emphasizes that this data will not be tied to your Apple Account or email address. Instead, it will be through a “random, device-generated identifier that rotates multiple times per hour,” according to the tech giant’s online post about the feature. Apple also notes that only “Apple employees, subject to strict confidentiality obligations,” are able to access these kind of Siri audio interactions, and your data related to requests you ask Siri can be retained for up to two years.
Martin Shelton, deputy director of digital security at Freedom of the Press Foundation, said he is generally in favor about how Apple handles security and privacy measures. But for this particular feature, “I don’t see the benefit of opting in,” he said, citing concerns with the fact that Apple can retain this data for multiple years.
“I don’t think that most of the conversations that they are going to hear are going to be terribly interesting, but some of them may be, and that’s the crux of the problem,” Shelton said.
George Kamide, a technology strategist, also agreed there is no benefit to users for opting in. “I don’t think that private individuals should be asked to improve the models of enormously rich companies,” he noted. “I think that this is an unfair exchange that is being more or less foisted upon end-users.”
Kamide said that Apple is doing the “bare minimum” with an opt-in setting, compared to its competitor Meta, which is currently being sued for allegedly using Facebook and Instagram photos to train generative AI models without notice or consent, allegations that Meta is claiming are “without merit” and a misrepresentation of its work.
Michael McLaughlin, a data privacy attorney, also said he recently did the iOS 27 software update and selected against sharing audio and texts with Apple. “The reason I pick no is because why am I giving Apple free access to my data?” he said. “As individuals and as consumers, we do this all the time.”
McLaughlin said people could be sharing particularly sensitive internet queries like questions about a sick child, and “that’s a lot of data to be ingesting and to be trusting” Apple with for their own purposes.
When HuffPost asked Apple about privacy criticisms, Apple declined to comment beyond what it has said publicly in posts about the privacy measures in its opt-in setting.
How To Opt Out Of Improving Siri
If you opt in to improving Siri, you can opt out at any time by going to your Settings app within your iPhone.
Then tap Privacy & Security, scroll down and select “Analytics & Improvements.” From there, turn off “Improve Siri & Apple Intelligence” and “Improve Siri & Dictation.” You can also turn this setting off for other Apple devices like your Mac, Apple Watch or Apple TV.
Beyond setting limits about how your own data will be used, Shelton said that opting out also asserts a boundary about the norms of how private conversations should go.
“When I have a conversation with somebody and it’s just me and them, I do not expect that our conversation will be used … to improve Apple’s products and services,” Shelton said. “You’re not just opting yourself in, your opting in all the other people around you.”
