Oliver Haslam on August 2, 2019, 7:39 pm

Apple Suspends Siri Quality Control Grading Program Following Reports About Privacy Issues, Option To Opt Out Coming Soon

Apple is set to suspend the program that saw some employees and contractors listening to Siri recordings as part of the company’s Siri quality control systems according to a new report by TechCrunch. Apple also says that it is going to review the process as a whole.

Currently some human reviews of Siri recordings take place so as to confirm whether the software is correctly hearing questions and commands.

This was made clear when a report by The Guardian appeared recently in which one contractor spoke out about the process. While the data is anonymized, the report suggested that Apple didn’t make it clear that this was happening.

Further, the report also noted that those listening to recordings often overheard private medical information as well as other data that people might not want anyone else to be aware of. Apparently those sometimes also included drug deals being made and even people having sex. In fact, it’s believed that the unfastening of a zipper can be misheard by Siri, with the digital assistant incorrectly believing someone has issued the “Hey Siri” command.

Now, Apple says that it is going to reevaluate the whole process, something that it calls grading.

“We are committed to delivering a great Siri experience while protecting user privacy,” Apple said in a statement to TechCrunch. “While we conduct a thorough review, we are suspending Siri grading globally. Additionally, as part of a future software update, users will have the ability to choose to participate in grading.”

A new software update is also in the works that will allow users to opt out of having their Siri interactions graded.

(Source: TechCrunch)