IBM announced that it has banned employees from using Siri,
the iPhone 4S's voice-activated assistant. Jeanette Horan, IBM’s CIO, cited
concerns regarding how Apple stores spoken questions and other information.
Ban Justified?
At first glance, some may wonder why go to this extreme. It is
not uncommon for carriers to store user information. Apples’ software license
agreement gives Apple the right to capture and store the information. When
people use Siri, the information gets sent to Apple to convert the information
into text. Siri also collects names from address books and other information.
Apple maintains it takes this approach to improve a user’s
experience. However, what remains unclear is how long Apple stores this
information.
It is perfectly legal for Apple to take these steps as users have to acknowledge
and accept the agreement. The same holds true for other types of software.
Where this differs is not all user agreements cause
attention from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In March, the
ACLU warned users about Siri-related privacy concerns.
Anytime we use a computer, smartphone or other device, we
run the risk of having our personal information gathered. However, things do
not look good for Apple on this front when a Siri developer acknowledged the high
risk for corporations. If employees use Siri to write emails, Apple may be storing confidential information.
Protection Measures
All corporate users should unsure they understand Siri’s
privacy policy and all forms they sign with an employer, including a
non-disclosure agreement. If things like a work location need to remain top
secret, chances are employees will not use Siri anytime. Users may also want to input a fake location on other smartphones. Even when people check sites like Yahoo!, it provides weather updates based on location.
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