When using Siri and Dictation on your Apple device, everything you speak can be forwarded to the company’s cloud as an attempt to aid to your needs better than usual. This feature is useful at times but it’s also a huge breach of your privacy. Apple was criticized by The Guardian (a British newspaper), earlier this year over their hiring contractors who were made to listen to some of the Siri recordings that were made anonymous, to assess the responses. This was done with an intent to improve the accuracy and reliability of Siri.
As a reply to this, Apple declared that they will introduce an option in the upcoming updates to let users bow out of giving out their audio clips. And soon, Apple released iOS 13.2 in which this option was included too. Along with this, another option was provided to the users was deletion of Siri’s audio history. This results in better privacy for the Apple users who use Siri. And they also had to stop their practice of sharing the audio clips recorded by Siri, to the human staff for improving the quality of their service. It prompts you as a pop-up after upgrading to the latest iOS version which asks you, if you would wish to opt out of audio sharing. Moreover, Apple also announced that now, only the Apple employees can listen to the recordings. This somewhat solves the privacy conflict and elevates the protection of your privacy.
Also Read: How to fix the issue of iPhone photos not showing up on Mac.
Also, as an explanation, Apple claims that other related data is forwarded, too. Data like performance statistics device specifications, the location of your device around the time any request is presented and device configuration. Which means that only a limited amount of data is saved by Siri on Apple servers.
If you have already opted into sharing your audio clips with Apple and suddenly aren’t comfortable with it anymore or if you have already opted out of it and reconsidering joining in the program, then you can still change your choice according to your wish. Also, you can delete the audio history saved by Siri.
How to turn off audio sharing on your Home Pod
By following these simple steps, you can turn off audio sharing on your Home Pod:
- On your Apple device, start the Home app.
- In your favorite accessories, click and hold Home Pod button. And if it’s not already in your favorites, get to the rooms page which you can choose from the bottom of your screen and choose the room that has your Home Pod by the room selector, situated in the upper-left corner.
- Select the gear in the lower-right corner of the Home Pod page to get to the device’s settings.
- Select “Analytics & Improvements”.
- You need to turn off the switch adjacent to “Improve Siri & Dictation” if you want to opt out of audio sharing.
How to delete Siri Audio History on Your Home Pod
By following these simple steps, you can delete your Siri Audio history on your Home Pod:
- On your Apple device, start the Home app.
- In your favorite accessories, click and hold Home Pod button. And if it’s not already in your favorites, get to the rooms page which you can choose from the bottom of your screen and choose the room that has your Home Pod by the room selector, situated in the upper left corner.
- Select the gear in the lower-right corner of the Home Pod page to get to the device’s settings.
- Select “Siri History”.
- Select “Delete Siri History”.
Apple will then notify you for your request being received and your Siri Audio History will be deleted. Although, only the history from the past 6 months is deleted.
I hope I could address all your queries and now you can easily turn off audio sharing and delete Siri audio history from your Home Pod. If you have any further doubts, you can visit support.apple.com or you may leave a comment below. Also, please leave a like on the content if it was helpful.
