Does privacy matter to anyone these days? Facebook has been the biggest perpetrator of late, and Apple is following closely behind them to make for a stellar series of bad news.
What Happened
Last month, we discovered that Apple was employing contractors to listen to and “grade” Siri recordings and they regularly heard confidential information from iPhone and iPad users. The confidential information ranged anywhere from personal medical information, illegal drugs deals, and even intimate moments between couples. While these are all violations of privacy, we finally get to see just how grand the scales actually were.
An employee who was fired early last week said that “occasionally we would hear personal data or snippets of conversations… I understood the reasons why the company was doing it but I could see why people would feel it was a breach of privacy because they weren’t telling people.”
Why This Matters…a Lot
As aforementioned, Facebook certainly isn’t innocent in a matter such as this. Amazon and Google also admitted to implementing similar practices and behaviors. Ironically, Apple has dubbed themselves “the only tech company you can trust.” They didn’t just say this, either; on their Privacy Page, Apple states, “at Apple, we believe privacy is a fundamental human right.”
It seems like a lot of these companies like to think privacy is a fundamental human right. However, they can’t understand how to make that happen. This is part of the reason why so many people are up in arms with the lack of privacy, and now they don’t know where to turn so that they won’t have people watching, listening, or transcribing their private messages.
Where to Go from Here
Though it’s likely that Apple won’t be going anywhere for quite some time. However, we can expect to see a large number of angry customers on their hands.
Apple has since made it clear that it’s committed to customer privacy. They vowed to suspend Siri grading while they step back and reevaluate their processes.
Is this the end of Siri grading and using real people to listen in on private conversations? Only time will tell. In the meantime, do everything you can to keep your private information one hundred percent private.
