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iOS 15.4 fixes bug that sends Siri recordings to Apple even after you opt out

Back in 2019, Apple introduced a new option that let users opt out of sharing their Siri recordings with Apple due to privacy concerns. While this option is still available in iOS 15, it seems that the option wasn’t working as expected. The company has now fixed that bug with iOS 15.4.

Apple said that a bug found in early versions of iOS 15 resulted in recordings of users’ conversations with Siri being shared with the company even when the user opted not to share them. To avoid further problems, Apple has silently disabled Siri recording sharing for “many” users with iOS 15.2.

Now, with the second beta of iOS 15.4, which was released to developers on Tuesday, Apple told ZDNet that the bug has been fixed. That’s why, once you update to iOS 15.4, the system asks again whether or not you want to opt in to sharing your Siri recordings.

According to Apple, all recordings that were improperly shared due to the bug were deleted from the company’s servers soon after the problem was identified.

With iOS 15.2, we turned off the Improve Siri & Dictation setting for many Siri users while we fixed a bug introduced with iOS 15. This bug inadvertently enabled the setting for a small portion of devices. Since identifying the bug, we stopped reviewing and are deleting audio received from all affected devices.

Apple uses recordings of people interacting with Siri to check if the assistant has been answering queries correctly in order to improve the feature. You can enable or disable the option to share Siri recordings with Apple at any time by going to Settings > Privacy > Analytics & Improvements.

iOS 15.4 beta is now available to developers and public beta users. The official release is expected this spring.

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Avatar for Filipe Espósito Filipe Espósito

Filipe Espósito is a Brazilian tech Journalist who started covering Apple news on iHelp BR with some exclusive scoops — including the reveal of the new Apple Watch Series 5 models in titanium and ceramic. He joined 9to5Mac to share even more tech news around the world.