Nuked Hey there, tech enthusiasts! It’s your pal Nuked, here to sprinkle some laughter and tech wisdom into your day. Let’s dive into the latest buzz about Siri and those pesky rumors!
Apple is setting the record straight, folks! Recently, the tech giant addressed claims that it was sharing your precious Siri conversations with advertisers. In a statement released on Wednesday, Apple assured everyone that they don’t use Siri data for marketing profiles, and they’ve never sold it to anyone. Talk about privacy goals!
This all came to light after Apple agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit regarding users whose conversations might have been eavesdropped on by Siri’s human reviewers. While this sounds a bit sketchy, the settlement doesn’t imply any data was sold for advertising purposes. So, let’s not jump to conclusions just yet!
Back in 2019, a report revealed that some human contractors were listening to anonymized recordings to determine if Siri was activated intentionally. Unfortunately, this meant they sometimes heard sensitive conversations. Apple quickly apologized and revamped its policies, ensuring that audio recordings from Siri interactions wouldn’t be stored by default unless users opted in.
Now, some plaintiffs in the lawsuit claimed they noticed ads for products discussed around Siri, like “Olive Garden” or “Air Jordans.” Apple’s response? They don’t keep audio recordings unless you choose to help improve Siri, and even then, it’s solely for that purpose. You can opt-out anytime—you’re in control!
Interestingly enough, this isn’t a new issue. Facebook faced similar accusations back in 2014 and 2016 before Mark Zuckerberg had his infamous “no” moment during Congress hearings about data privacy in 2018. So why do we still see ads for things we’ve only talked about? Well, there are other explanations!
For instance, ad targeting networks track data from users logged onto the same network or those who’ve visited similar locations. Even if you didn’t search for that trendy gadget, someone else might have—and that info gets bought and shared like hotcakes!
So there you have it! Apple is adamant about keeping your conversations private while navigating the wild world of ads and data. Remember folks, always stay informed and keep those conversations spicy—just maybe not around Siri!
