In a statement to ZDNet, Apple said that in the second beta version (Beta 2) of iOS 15.4, a bug in iOS 15 has been fixed. The bug is reported to cause the iPhone to incorrectly upload certain Siri recordings to the server, even if the user opted out in settings.
Apple explained:
The company turned off the “Improve Siri & Dictation” setting in iOS 15.2 for many Siri users while fixing a bug introduced in iOS 15.
The bug inadvertently enabled the setting for a small number of devices, and upon becoming aware of the issue, they quickly launched an investigation and deleted all recordings received from the affected devices.
As for why the user was not notified when the problem was first discovered or the settings were deleted, Apple did not give a message.
Because of this, it is not clear how many recordings the company accidentally recorded on the phone and which users were affected.
Closer to home, when updating to iOS 15.4 beta 2, you’ll see a settings screen asking users to choose whether to improve the Siri and dictation experience by sending recordings to Apple.
Opting out at this point should theoretically prevent Apple from collecting and viewing records of users’ interactions with Siri. MacRumors notes that Apple first introduced a settings option to disable Siri recordings in October 2019 with the launch of iOS 13.2.
It was earlier revealed that Apple hired some contractors to listen to a small number of anonymous Siri recordings to evaluate the reliability of Siri’s responses and improve the experience.
Some of these contractors complained that they often learned confidential details while listening to the recordings. In response, Apple temporarily disabled Siri assessments and added the option to opt-out and delete all previously collected recordings.