iOS 15 bug that inadvertently stored Siri recordings from a ‘small portion’ of users was fixed, Apple says

With iOS 15.4 getting its second beta version recently, Apple told users to expect a prompt asking them again if they want to opt-in or out of having their Siri interactions recorded. This comes as the company confirmed an earlier bug that caused “a small portion of devices” to incorrectly store Siri dictations.

Apple is continuously trying to improve Siri’s performance and accuracy, and a major factor in doing so is by collecting data from actual interactions iOS users make with the digital assistant. Apple added a toggle that would allow iOS users to enable or disable the storage of these dictations. But the iPhone maker confirmed that a previously found bug on iOS 15 automatically enabled the setting even for users who have chosen to disable it.

Because of the iOS 15 bug, some users who did not want their Siri dictations recorded and expressed so by disabling the setting may have had these data stored anyway. But Apple told ZDNet that the said bug had been fixed on iOS 15.2 and that the interactions mistakenly recorded were already deleted. Apple did not say how many iOS 15 users were affected by the bug, but the company suggests the number was not that high.

“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,” Apple told the publication. “Since identifying the bug, we stopped reviewing and are deleting audio received from all affected devices.”

Due to the Siri bug and its subsequent fix, Apple said iOS 15.4 beta 2 users might see a prompt asking them again if they want to enable the Improve Siri & Dictation setting. Users can find this toggle by going to Settings > Privacy > Analytics & Improvements.

Siri was integrated into the iPhone operating system in 2011, but it was not until late 2019 that Apple introduced the Improve Siri & Dictation toggle. The setting was introduced after a whistleblower working for a contractor in charge of “grading” anonymized Siri dictations revealed to the Guardian that many of the recordings they review contained confidential details, including “private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, seemingly criminal dealings, sexual encounters and so on.”

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