APPLE has admitted it took Siri voice recordings from some users WITHOUT their permission.
The apparent accident happened to a “small portion” of devices that specifically told the tech giant they did not want to share voice interactions.
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Apple uses Siri data to improve its digital assistant but people can opt out of it at any time.
But a bug meant some recordings were collected anyway, ZDNet reports.
Apple, which prides itself on protecting people’s privacy, says it has since deleted all the data.
The gaffe came about in iOS 15, released in September last year.
A further update, iOS 15.2, turned the setting for “many” Siri users off.
The error is apparently completely fixed in the second beta version of iOS 15.4.
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As a result, early testers may receive a prompt asking whether they want to enable the Improve Siri & Dictation feature.
“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,” Apple told ZDNet.
“This bug inadvertently enabled the setting for a small portion of devices.
“Since identifying the bug, we stopped reviewing and are deleting audio received from all affected devices.”
So iPhone users might want to make sure they are at least running iOS 15.2 to be on the safe side.
It’s not clear when Apple became aware of the issue but many will be wondering why it kept quiet about it until now.
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In other news, Apple has revealed a bunch of new emoji for iPhone, including a pregnant man and two saucy symbols.
Experts have warned that future space launches could be jeopardised if “stupid” regimes like Russia don’t stop blasting the skies creating debris.
And the most popular phone since the millennium has been unveiled, with many shocked to find out it’s not an iPhone.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
