Siri data kept for two years, says Apple

Apple has confirmed that a user’s conversations with voice-recognition app Siri are stored for up to two years.

Responding to a report by Wired, which questioned the privacy of the Siri app, Apple spokesperson Tracy Muller explained how the firm handles the data inputted by users when using the technology.

It is understood that once a user inputs voice commands to Siri, the data is then uploaded and stored by Apple for analysis. The user is then assigned a random number, which is associated with future voice data.

Effectively, the method means data is untraceable to the original users, given that random numbers are used in favour of names and email addresses.

However, Muller also confirmed that the data is disassociated with a user six-months after its creation – or if a user simply disables Siri on their device. But whilst the links between the user and their data is severed, the information is still kept by Apple for a further 18 months.

Apple maintains that the stored information is kept only in order to better the Siri service – but even so, the program may still leave Apple with a large quantity of users’ sensitive data.