By: Michael Theofanopoulos
In the world we live in today technology has helped form our society by impacting and changing the way each individual goes about their daily life. It is nearly impossible to walk down the street and not see someone on their cell phone or any other portable device. What many overlook is that new technology can invade the privacy of its users. Apple has become a major brand in the technological world by developing new and innovated features for its users. As many know already one of Apples most hyped feature is an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator, Siri. The feature works great for those who need information quick. However, the question many forget to ask is, what happens to the information that is shared with Siri?
According to a CNN article, “All of those questions, messages, and stern commands that people have been whispering to Siri are stored on Apple servers for up to two years.” The question seems to be, what is considered private anymore? Even something as the Siri feature that believed to be secure and trusted turned out not to be. Most people are aware that the web may be monitored but most don’t realize that the personal information they are telling Siri to store into their phone is kept and saved. As the CNN article states, “Transcripts of what you say to Siri could reveal sensitive things about you, your family, or business." It’s quit a scary thing to think that this private information such as your family members birthdays is forwarded to the Apple data farm and kept for at least two years. Information that no one else needs to know can virtually be accessed at any point within those years.
Nicole Ozer says she’d like to see Apple make a better effort in letting their customers know that this information is being stored before they buy an Apple product. But is it really a surprise that Apple didn’t just come out and say they store the data? There are so many things people do everyday that gets saved and surveilled without anyone knowing that this shouldn’t be a major shock. However, I don’t think that it makes Apple right for withholding this info because people need to be more aware that what they think is private may not be. Are we reaching a point in time were privacy is truly being invaded? Or then, what is considered breaking the privacy barrier?
I think the breach of privacy is unavoidable. Large corporations have been doing it for some time now. As we know, Facebook, does it all the time. I think apple should notify individuals that what they say will be stored on a server and if they are going to share that information with another corporation. If they decide to sell our information, I believe there should be a percentage payment to the individual whose information was sold. (i.e. 25% of the profit goes to the individual)
ReplyDelete-Yevgeniy Rokhin
Wow, thanks for the great post Michael! I do not use an iPhone, but I do know what Siri is and had been wondering about this for a while. As a civil defense attorney in our hometown, my dad has had numerous cases where he subpoenaed cell phone records (e.g. text messages, phone logs, pictures, GPS data, etc.) to be utilized as evidence. In one particular case, knowing a person's last location (via GPS data) and being able to see her recent communication (through unfinished / unsent text messages stored on the phone) proved their innocence. In this way, cell phone surveillance can be beneficial to the user. But at the same time, so many consumers do not know the extent that their information is stored on their devices, and it is really scary to me to think of the possibility that a hacker could possibly get ahold of all the information stored in cell phone companies' servers. Cell phone surveillance is definitely both a gift and a curse!
ReplyDelete-Catherine Hall
Interesting blog post! It makes me nervous to know the level of surveillance impeded within cell phone architecture. While it's probably true that most people use Siri to ask innocuous consumer related questions that would have no serious repercussions, it still carries the potential to gratuitously surveil people who have committed no crimes. In addition, it could facilitate technological profiling of people.
ReplyDeleteI never would have thought that they were saving whatever was said to siri. What's really funny about that is that everyone I know always asks siri stupid questions, that many would find offensive. So that would be a problem if people were able to look at what was said. It would be embarrassing for some and could also get others into trouble. Which is bad because most people are just making jokes and don't really mean any harm when they say things to siri. Apple really should notify people that their comments are being saved. It shouldn't be a surprise to people though, since most of what we do with our phones and computers is monitored.
ReplyDelete-Alex Juha
It's astounding how we get surveilled on practically everything. Who had have thought that Siri was another form of surveillance. I am not quite sure why Apple would want to save conversations with Siri for two years. I would understand maybe for six months, but two years just sounds excessive. I feel a study should be conducted in which it tests whether such information is truly valuable. If it turns out that it isn't so much, they should definitely lower the time. I also don't see why anybody wanting to hurt himself/herself or anyone else would contact Siri, that's just my point of view. Finally, I feel Apple should notify users that what is said to Siri is saved.
ReplyDelete