Apple denies allegation of Siri data being used for ad targeting

Apple has denied rumors that it ever allowed advertisers to target users based on Siri recordings. In a statement released Wednesday evening, the company clarified how Siri functions and how it handles user data.

The rumors gained traction last week after Apple agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit involving users whose conversations were captured by Siri and possibly overheard by human employees.

This settlement addresses an issue first reported by The Guardian in 2019, which revealed that human contractors reviewing anonymised recordings sometimes encountered sensitive conversations while grading whether the Siri trigger was activated intentionally. However, the settlement does not suggest any involvement in selling data for marketing purposes.

Apple’s recent statement says it “does not retain audio recordings of Siri interactions unless users explicitly opt in to help improve Siri, and even then, the recordings are used solely for that purpose. Users can easily opt-out at any time.”

According to media reports, ad targeting networks also track data from individuals logged onto the same network or those who have visited the same locations. So, even if one person didn’t directly search for a term, someone else might have. These networks can purchase data from brokers who collect extensive location tracking and other information from apps on your phone. Both Google and Facebook gather data from other companies to build comprehensive profiles based on your purchasing habits and other personal information.