Apple, Mac, MacOS, iOS4, iPad, iPhone and (in)security...

We knew that other companies were recording interactions with their smart devices, and using some of those recordings to check for quality by having real people listen to those interactions. But, until now, we thought Apple was different. 

On Friday Apple confirmed, to the Guardian, a whistleblowers account that the company has similar practices to Google and Amazon, but never disclosed that fact in its privacy policy. 

Apple samples a small number of recordings of interactions with its voice assistant Siri, which is used by millions of Americans on their iPhones, Apple Watch, and other iOS and Mac devices. According to the whistleblower, that includes "countless instances of recordings featuring private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, seemingly criminal dealings, sexual encounters and so on."

I accidentally wake up Siri all the time on my watch or phone when I have no intention of interacting with her, and I've never given any thought to the fact that she's listening to whatever goes on in the background. In fact, we have a daughter whose name apparently sounds close enough to "hey Siri," that I'm frequently reminded by my iPhone that "you need to clean up your room," and "come set the table," are not commands yet supported by voice assistants (though that would be awesome). 

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https://www.scoop.it/t/apple-mac-ios4-ipad-iphone-and-in-security

http://www.scoop.it/t/apple-mac-ios4-ipad-iphone-and-in-security/?&tag=Privacy

http://www.scoop.it/t/apple-mac-ios4-ipad-iphone-and-in-security/?tag=SIRI

Over the years iPhones and iPads have been plagued on many occasions by passcode bypasses - a secret method that allows an attacker to unlock you

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http://www.scoop.it/t/apple-mac-ios4-ipad-iphone-and-in-security/?tag=SIRI

http://www.scoop.it/t/apple-mac-ios4-ipad-iphone-and-in-security/

Voice assistants are growing in popularity, but the technology has been experiencing a parallel rise in concerns about privacy and accuracy. Apple’s Siri is the latest to enter this gray space of tech. This week, The Guardian reported that contractors who review Siri recordings for accuracy and to help make improvements may be hearing personal conversations.

One of the contract workers told The Guardian that Siri did sometimes record audio after mistaken activations. The wake word is the phrase “hey Siri,” but the anonymous source said that it could be activated by similar-sounding words or with the noise of a zipper. They also said that when an Apple Watch is raised and speech is detected, Siri will automatically activate.

“There have been countless instances of recordings featuring private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, seemingly criminal dealings, sexual encounters and so on,” the source said. “These recordings are accompanied by user data showing location, contact details, and app data.”

Apple has said that it takes steps to protect users from being connected with the recordings sent to contractors. The audio is not linked to an Apple ID and less than 1% of daily Siri activations are reviewed. It also sets confidentiality requirements for those contract workers. We reached out to Apple for further comment and will update the story if we receive it.

Apple, along with Google and Amazon, all have similar policies for the contract workers it hires to review those audio snippets. But all three voice AI makers have also been the subject of similar privacy breaches, either by whistleblowers going to the press or through errors that give users access to incorrect audio files.

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https://www.scoop.it/t/apple-mac-ios4-ipad-iphone-and-in-security

http://www.scoop.it/t/apple-mac-ios4-ipad-iphone-and-in-security/?&tag=Privacy

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What happened was that the neighbor was actually able to shout to Marcus’s iPad in the living room in order to get Siri to unlock the door.

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http://www.scoop.it/t/securite-pc-et-internet/?tag=Smart+Home

https://globaleducationandsocialmedia.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/why-is-it-a-must-to-have-basics-knowledge-of-cyber-security-in-a-connected-technology-world/

http://www.scoop.it/t/securite-pc-et-internet/?tag=SHODAN+Search+Engine

http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-learning-and-teaching/?tag=Internet+of+Things

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http://www.scoop.it/t/securite-pc-et-internet/?tag=Internet+of+things

http://globaleducationandsocialmedia.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/why-is-it-a-must-to-have-basics-knowledge-of-cyber-security-in-a-connected-technology-world/

http://www.scoop.it/t/securite-pc-et-internet/?tag=Cars