Apple apologized on Wednesday for letting contractors listen to commands that users give to its voice assistant Siri. The Califonia Tech giant is now promising changes in it rules for handling data from conversations.
Under the changes, Apple will allow its employees to review conversations only from customers who opt into the “Siri grading” program to improve the voice recognition technology. Apple will also delete by default any recordings used for the program.
“We realize we haven’t been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologize,” Apple said in a post.
“We’ve decided to make some changes to Siri” as a result of concerns expressed about the grading program, the company added.
“Our goal with Siri, the pioneering intelligent assistant, is to provide the best experience for our customers while vigilantly protecting their privacy.” Computer-generated transcripts will still be used to hone the ability of the software to understand what people say and mean, the company said in a blog post.
The practice, which was designed to improve the quality of Siri, came under scrutiny after The Guardian reported last month that contractors could hear users' private conversations. Apple (AAPL) initially responded by temporarily suspending the practice earlier this month while the company reviewed it.
According to a CNN report, Apple isn't the only company that's been forced to rethink its approach to reviewing recordings from users amid privacy concerns. Google (GOOGL) temporarily halted human reviews of its recordings and Amazon (AMZN) recently changed its settings to make it easier for people to avoid any review of Alexa recordings. Facebook (FB) also has paused human review of some users' audio clips.
These moves are said to have come in the wake of months of media scrutiny over tech companies relying on real people to review recordings from voice assistants, often unknown to the user. The coverage has served as a stark reminder that many consumer tech products are not simply supported by faceless algorithms and artificial intelligence, but instead require a human touch in order to improve.
For Apple, the stakes are particularly high. Apple has repeatedly tried to position itself as a privacy-focused business, in a clear attempt to draw a stark contrast with competitors including Facebook and Google. Apple CEO Tim Cook often refers to privacy as a "fundamental human right."
Under the changes, Apple will allow its employees to review conversations only from customers who opt into the “Siri grading” program to improve the voice recognition technology. Apple will also delete by default any recordings used for the program.
“We realize we haven’t been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologize,” Apple said in a post.
“We’ve decided to make some changes to Siri” as a result of concerns expressed about the grading program, the company added.
“Our goal with Siri, the pioneering intelligent assistant, is to provide the best experience for our customers while vigilantly protecting their privacy.” Computer-generated transcripts will still be used to hone the ability of the software to understand what people say and mean, the company said in a blog post.
The practice, which was designed to improve the quality of Siri, came under scrutiny after The Guardian reported last month that contractors could hear users' private conversations. Apple (AAPL) initially responded by temporarily suspending the practice earlier this month while the company reviewed it.
According to a CNN report, Apple isn't the only company that's been forced to rethink its approach to reviewing recordings from users amid privacy concerns. Google (GOOGL) temporarily halted human reviews of its recordings and Amazon (AMZN) recently changed its settings to make it easier for people to avoid any review of Alexa recordings. Facebook (FB) also has paused human review of some users' audio clips.
These moves are said to have come in the wake of months of media scrutiny over tech companies relying on real people to review recordings from voice assistants, often unknown to the user. The coverage has served as a stark reminder that many consumer tech products are not simply supported by faceless algorithms and artificial intelligence, but instead require a human touch in order to improve.
For Apple, the stakes are particularly high. Apple has repeatedly tried to position itself as a privacy-focused business, in a clear attempt to draw a stark contrast with competitors including Facebook and Google. Apple CEO Tim Cook often refers to privacy as a "fundamental human right."
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