Apple apologizes for listening to Siri's recordings and promises changes

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New York (CNN Business) - Apple apologized this Wednesday for allowing contractors to listen to the commands users give their voice assistant Siri. The company now promises changes.

The practice, which is designed to improve Siri's quality, came under scrutiny after The Guardian reported last month that contractors could hear users' private conversations. Apple initially responded by temporarily suspending the practice earlier this month while the company reviewed it.

In a blog post on Wednesday, Apple said it will require users to opt for their recordings to be heard by human reviewers, rather than this being the default. And only Apple employees can listen to audio samples of Siri interactions, instead of hiring workers.

The company also said it will no longer save audio recordings of user interactions with Siri.

"We know that customers have been concerned about recent reports from people who listen to Siri audio recordings as part of our Siri quality assessment process," Apple said in the publication. "As a result of our review, we realize that we have not been fully complying with our high ideals, and that is why we apologize."

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Apple is not the only company that has been forced to rethink its approach to review user recordings amid privacy concerns. Google temporarily stopped human reviews of its recordings and Amazon recently changed its settings to make it easier for people to avoid any review of Alexa recordings. Facebook has also paused the human review of some users' audio clips.

These movements occur after months of media scrutiny about technology companies that rely on real people to review recordings of voice assistants, often unknown to the user. The coverage has served as a clear reminder that many consumer technology products are not only backed by faceless algorithms and artificial intelligence, but require a human touch to improve.

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Artificial intelligence experts previously told CNN Business that there is a legitimate need for humans to hear some parts of the conversations for voice-operated technology to work. But experts also said that technology companies should do more to make clear what happens with the recordings of these systems and what privacy risks exist.

For Apple, the bets are particularly high. Apple has repeatedly tried to position itself as a business focused on privacy, in a clear attempt to establish a stark contrast with competitors such as Facebook and Google. Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, often refers to privacy as a "fundamental human right."

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