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Short answer: In July 2019, The Guardian reported that contractors grading Siri responses sometimes heard highly sensitive audio, including medical details, drug deals and people having sex. Apple suspended human grading, apologized and announced an opt-in system in August 2019. Apple’s current public privacy materials say Siri audio is not retained by default and that audio storage and review for improvement require explicit opt-in. Those materials describe Apple’s policy; they do not independently verify how every request is handled.
What The Guardian reported in 2019
On July 26, 2019, The Guardian reported that contractors who graded Siri quality regularly encountered private recordings. Its sources described hearing medical information, conversations about drug deals and couples having sex. These are observations attributed to the newspaper’s reporting and former graders, not a population-wide measurement of how often such recordings occurred.
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The grading task was intended to evaluate Siri’s performance. Contractors assessed whether a wake-up was deliberate or accidental, whether Siri could help with the request and whether its response was appropriate. An accidental activation could therefore send a fragment of a private conversation into the material being evaluated.
The reporting did not establish a reliable percentage for accidental activations or for sensitive recordings. Apple described the reviewed material as a small portion, but neither source supports turning that description or the contractors’ testimony into a precise rate.
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How Apple responded
The Guardian reported on August 2 that Apple had suspended contractor listening after its initial story. In an August 28 statement, Apple acknowledged customers’ concern about people listening to Siri audio during what it called “grading,” said it had suspended human grading and reviewed its practices, and announced changes. Apple apologized in a follow-up reported on August 29.
Apple said future sharing of audio samples for product improvement would require users to opt in and that, when users opted in, only Apple employees—not outside contractors—would listen to the audio. This change describes Apple’s announced program at the time; it does not prove that every earlier recording was removed or that the new process was independently audited.
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2019 arrangement versus Apple’s current published policy
| Issue | 2019 reporting and response | Current Apple description |
|---|---|---|
| Consent | The Guardian reported contractor grading of Siri samples, including accidental activations. Apple then paused human grading and said audio sharing for improvement would become opt-in. | Apple says storing and reviewing Siri audio for improvement requires explicit opt-in. |
| Who reviews audio | Contractors were described in the 2019 report as grading samples. | Apple says only its employees review audio recordings when a user opts in. The current materials do not establish that the 2019 contractor arrangement continues. |
| What data is involved | Audio clips could contain whatever Siri captured, including private conversations after an unintended activation. | Apple distinguishes audio from transcripts and related request data. Audio is not retained by default, while transcripts and associated data may still be stored. |
| Identifier | The 2019 reports concerned the review process rather than a current identifier policy. | Apple says samples use a random, device-generated identifier rather than an Apple Account. |
| Deletion and retention | The 2019 reports did not provide a current, general deletion schedule. | Apple says users can delete requests linked to the random identifier, but older requests and a small sample already reviewed may no longer be associated with it and may not be deletable. |
What Apple says about Siri audio today
Audio retention is described as opt-in
Apple’s current privacy feature page says Siri and Dictation audio is not retained by default. Users may opt in to let Apple store and review audio and interaction history to improve Siri and foundation models, and Apple says they can opt out later.
Transcripts are a separate privacy issue
Apple’s legal privacy notice says audio is not stored unless a user opts in, but transcripts and related request information may be retained. It says request history can be kept for up to two years, while a small subset that was reviewed may be kept longer. The feature page separately cautions that requests older than six months, and the small sample already reviewed, may no longer be linked to the random identifier and therefore may not be deleted through the available control. These statements concern different data and deletion conditions, so turning off audio review does not mean every transcript or associated record disappears immediately.
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- Your favorite music and content – Play music, audiobooks, and podcasts from Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and others or via Bluetooth throughout your home.
- Alexa is happy to help – Ask Alexa for weather updates and to set hands-free timers, get answers to your questions and even hear jokes. Need a few extra minutes in the morning? Just tap your Echo Dot to snooze your alarm.
- Keep your home comfortable – Control compatible smart home devices with your voice and routines triggered by built-in motion or indoor temperature sensors. Create routines to automatically turn on lights when you walk into a room, or start a fan if the inside temperature goes above your comfort zone.
- Do more with device pairing – Fill your home with music using compatible Echo devices in different rooms, or create a home theatre system with Fire TV.
- Say goodbye to drop-offs and buffering - With eero Built-in, Echo Dot doubles as a mesh wifi extender, adding up to 1,000 sq. ft. of wifi coverage to your existing eero network.
Processing claims
In a 2025 statement, Apple said Siri audio is not retained unless users explicitly opt in. Apple also describes on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute. Those are Apple’s stated design and policy claims, not an independent audit of implementation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Can Siri record conversations by accident?
Yes, an unintended wake-up was one of the events the 2019 grading process was designed to identify. The Guardian’s sources said clips from such activations could include surrounding private speech. The report demonstrates that accidental captures were possible in the process described at the time; it does not establish how common they are across all Siri users, devices or years.
Do Apple contractors listen to Siri recordings now?
The 2019 story concerned contractors. Apple’s current public materials say that, when a user opts in to audio sharing for improvement, Apple employees review recordings. They do not say that the 2019 contractor arrangement continues. Because these are policy statements rather than independent verification, the careful conclusion is that current Apple documentation describes employee-only review under an opt-in model.
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Quick Recap
How to limit Siri audio review
- Open your device’s Siri and Dictation privacy settings. The exact menu name can vary by operating-system version.
- Decline or disable the option that allows Apple to store and review Siri or Dictation audio for improvement. Read the accompanying text carefully, because audio sharing and other Siri settings can be separate controls.
- Review and delete available Siri request history. Use the device-level deletion control Apple provides for requests linked to the random identifier.
- Allow for retention limits. Apple says older requests and the small sample already reviewed may no longer be associated with the identifier and may not be removable through that control.
- Check after major software updates. Apple can change labels and privacy controls across operating-system releases; verify the setting remains off rather than relying on an old screenshot or guide.
What you can and cannot conclude
- The 2019 Guardian investigation reported that contractors heard intimate and otherwise sensitive Siri recordings while grading quality.
- Apple paused human grading, apologized for the concern and announced opt-in audio sharing with employee-only review.
- Apple’s current published policy says audio is not retained by default and that storage and review for improvement require opt-in.
- Transcripts and related request data may still be retained, with Apple stating limits of up to two years and exceptions for reviewed samples.
- The available evidence does not provide a trustworthy prevalence percentage for accidental activations or sensitive clips.
- Current Apple policy is not the same thing as independent confirmation that every request is processed exactly as described.
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