Some iPhone users who opted out of the program to use their interactions with Siri were somehow opted-in
A Whistleblower revealed that one of the devices that captured users’ conversations was the HomePod
But as it turns out, a bug found in iOS 15 enabled the feature even for those who opted-out. So while you might have thought that your flirting with Siri was between you and the digital assistant, Apple was still able to listen to some users’ private or even X-rated conversations.
In iOS 15.2, after Apple discovered the bug, it disabled the setting that allowed Apple to make these recordings and also got rid of the bug that automatically allowed the recordings to be made even when the user opted out. Commenting on the situation, Apple said, “With iOS 15.2, we turned off the Improve Siri & Dictation setting for many Siri users while we fixed a bug introduced with iOS 15.”
A whistleblower said Siri would activate with the sound of a zipper
The sound of a zipper would supposedly activare Siri
The anonymous whistleblower pointed out that most false Siri activations came from the Apple Watch and the HomePod smart speaker. He also left a quote that gives us a good idea about some of the content that the contractors were listening to while trying to grade Siri.
“The regularity of accidental triggers on the watch is incredibly high. The watch can record some snippets that will be 30 seconds – not that long but you can gather a good idea of what’s going on…you can definitely hear a doctor and patient, talking about the medical history of the patient,” said the whistleblower.
“Or you’d hear someone, maybe with car engine background noise – you can’t say definitely, but it’s a drug deal … you can definitely hear it happening. And you’d hear, like, people engaging in sexual acts that are accidentally recorded on the pod or the watch.”
