IBM bans 'Siri' over security concerns
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- IBM bans Siri on its network, according to Technology Review
- The technology company worries Apple may store voice requests
- Messages are "sent to Apple in order to convert what you say into text"
The reason? Siri ships
everything you say to her to a big data center in Maiden, North
Carolina. And the story of what really happens to all of your
Siri-launched searches, e-mail messages and inappropriate jokes is a bit
of a black box.
IBM CIO Jeanette Horan told MIT's Technology Review this week
that her company has banned Siri outright because, according to the
magazine, "The company worries that the spoken queries might be stored
somewhere."
It turns out that Horan is right to worry. In fact, Apple's iPhone Software License Agreement
spells this out: "When you use Siri or Dictation, the things you say
will be recorded and sent to Apple in order to convert what you say into
text," Apple says. Siri collects a bunch of other information -- names
of people from your address book and other unspecified user data, all to
help Siri do a better job.
Tips for using Siri
Siri: Apple's new voice recognition
Siri: Apple's new voice recognition
How long does Apple store
all of this stuff, and who gets a look at it? Well, the company doesn't
actually say. Again, from the user agreement: "By using Siri or
Dictation, you agree and consent to Apple's and its subsidiaries' and
agents' transmission, collection, maintenance, processing, and use of
this information, including your voice input and User Data, to provide
and improve Siri, Dictation, and other Apple products and services."
Because some of the data that Siri collects can be very personal, the American Civil Liberties Union put out a warning about Siri just a couple of months ago.
Privacy was always a big
concern for Siri's developers, says Edward Wrenbeck, the lead developer
of the original Siri iPhone app, which was eventually acquired by Apple.
And for corporate users, there are even more potential pitfalls. "Just
having it known that you're at a certain customer's location might be in
violation of a non-disclosure agreement," he says.
But he agrees that many
of the issues raised by Apple's Siri data handling are similar to those
that other internet companies face. "I really don't think it's something
to worry about," he says. "People are already doing things on these
mobile devices. Maybe Siri makes their life a little bit easier, but
it's not exactly opening up a new avenue that wasn't there before."
But other companies have
been pressured by privacy groups over the way they store customer data.
Google, for example, has come under fire in the past for the way it
handles a massive database of user search data. But IBM doesn't ban
Google. Neither Apple nor IBM could be reached for comment Tuesday, but
there are a couple of important differences between Siri and Google that
may have IBM worried: For one, Siri can be used to write e-mails or
text messages. So, in theory, Apple could be storing confidential IBM
messages.
Another difference: After being dogged by privacy advocates, Google now anonymizes search results -- making them difficult, if not impossible, to trace back to an individual user -- after nine months.
Maybe if Apple agreed to do something like that, Siri would be welcome over in Armonk, New York.
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