How to opt out of Siri grading and delete your audio history from Apple’s servers

Delete Siri history

You can elevate your privacy by opting out of Siri grading on any Apple devices you happen to own, as well as delete your Siri history pertaining to a specific device from the company’s servers. Follow along with iDownloadBlog as we show you how to prevent Apple from storing audio recordings of your Siri and Dictation interactions, as well as delete your Siri history.

Siri, Dictation and your privacy

For the uninitiated, anything you say and dictate when using the Siri and Dictation features on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and HomePod devices can be sent to the company’s servers in the cloud in order to process your requests efficiently.

As Apple itself states:

By using Siri or Dictation, you agree and consent to Apple’s and its subsidiaries’ and agents’ transmission, collection, maintenance, processing, and use of this information, including your voice input data and Siri Data, to provide and improve Siri and dictation functionality in Apple products and services. At all times, information received by Apple from your use of Siri or Dictation will be treated in accordance with Apple’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at www.apple.com/privacy.

The company spells out that other related request data gets sent, too, including device specifications, device configuration, performance statistics and the approximate location of your device at the time the request was made.

In other words, only the minimum data is stored by Siri on the company’s servers.

For those asking, things such as your email addresses, phone numbers, as well as your Apple ID, account name, number and password, will not be sent to Apple regardless of your setting.

Siri grading — what went wrong?

In July 2019, the British newspaper the Guardian learned from a whistleblower that Apple had hired contractors and tasked them with listening to a small percentage of anonymized ‌Siri‌ recordings with the goal of improving accuracy and reliability of Siri, Dictation and more.

ROUNDUP: How to use all the new features in iOS 13.2

These recordings are tied to a random, rotating device-generated identifier to avoid being linked to users’ Apple IDs, emails and other data. Apple’s Privacy Policy does spell out that Apple might process and use these audio snippets for the purpose of improving Siri, Dictation and other language processing features available on its platforms, such as Voice Control.

Delete Siri history

But the damage was already done, prompting Apple to make changes.

For starters, Apple immediately suspended the program globally. It then reinstated Siri grading in an improved form by issuing the iOS 13.2, iPadOS 13.2, watchOS 6.1, tvOS 13.2, macOS Catalina 10.15.1 and iOS 13.2.1 for HomePod software updates in October of 2019.

The updates for the first time brought a new switch that customers could flip to allow or disallow Apple to store their Siri and Dictation interactions. Another new option permits people to delete their Siri and Dictation interactions from Apple’s servers that are up to six months old.

Most importantly, Apple stopped using outside contractors for the Siri grading program. Only Apple’s own employees are now authorized to listen to audio recordings or read computer-generated transcriptions of your requests, as well as grade them.

According to Apple:

If one of your Siri or Dictation interactions is selected for review, the request, as well as the response Siri provided, will be analyzed to determine accuracy and to generally improve Siri, Dictation and natural language processing functionality in Apple’s products.

Depending on the context of your request, Apple employees may review Siri data directly relevant to the request, in order to grade the effectiveness of Siri’s response. Only Apple employees, subject to strict confidentiality obligations, are able to access audio interactions with Siri and Dictation.

Reading between the lines, Apple says Siri requests are not used to build a marketing profile and are never sold to anyone. I genuinely trust Apple with my personal information and I want to participate in the Siri grading program because who doesn’t want a better Siri?

Delete Siri history

That being said, I realize not everyone shares my opinion. In that case, follow along with iDownloadBlog if you’d like to learn how to opt out of sharing audio recordings of your Siri and Dictation requests with Apple and delete Siri history associated with any particular device.

How to opt out of audio sharing before you delete Siri history

Apple’s privacy settings make it a cinch to control whether or not you’d like to help improve Siri and Dictation by allowing the company to store audio recordings and transcriptions of your voice interactions with Siri and Dictation. Be sure that your devices are running the most recent software updates, then follow these instructions to opt out of Siri grading.

iPhone and iPad

To opt out of sharing your Siri and Dictation audio recordings and computer-generated transcriptions with Apple, do the following:

1) Open Settings on your iOS device with iOS 13.2 or later.

2) Choose Privacy from the main list.

3) Choose Analytics & Improvements at the bottom of the screen.

4) Slide the switch next to Improve ‌Siri‌ & Dictation to the OFF position.

Delete Siri history

Doing so will disallow Apple to keep recordings of your future interactions with Siri and Dictation on this device. You must do this separately on every iPhone, iPad or iPod touch you own.

Keep in mind that any audio recording and transcriptions that are already stored on servers won’t be automatically removed unless you do this manually, as explained further below.

To learn in greater detail about Apple’s‌ analytics policy when it comes to improving Siri and other voice-enabled functions, tap the link “About Siri & Dictation Analytics”.

Mac

Follow the steps below if you’d like to stop Apple from storing audio snippets and computer-generated transcriptions of your Siri and Dictation requests made on this Mac.

1) Choose System Preferences in the Apple menu on your Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15.1.

2) Click the icon Security & Privacy in the System Preferences window.

3) Click the Privacy tab.

4) Select Analytics & Improvements in the lefthand column.

5) Untick the box labeled with the text “Improve Siri & Dictation” in the righthand column.

Delete Siri history

Doing so bars the company from storing and reviewing future audio recordings or transcriptions of your Siri and Dictation interactions that originate from this particular Mac. Don’t forget to disable this option separately on every Mac you own.

Also, disabling Improve Siri & Dictation won’t delete your interaction history associated with this Mac. You will need to do that manually, as outlined further below in this tutorial.

You can read about Apple’s privacy practices related to Siri and Dictation data collection by clicking the button “About Analytics and Privacy” located near the bottom of the window, then scroll down to the section dealing with improving Siri and Dictation.

Apple Watch

To stop Apple from reviewing your interactions with Siri and Dictation made on your Apple Watch, follow the steps included right ahead.

1) Open Settings on your Apple Watch with watchOS 6.1 or later.

2) Choose Privacy from the main list.

3) Tap Analytics & Improvements near the bottom.

4) Slide the switch Improve Siri & Dictation to the OFF position.

Delete Siri history

Apple will no longer be storing and reviewing future Siri and Dictation interactions that you make on this watch. Remember to disable this option separately on every watch you use.

Opting out of Siri audio sharing won’t auto-delete Siri and Dictation history associated with this watch, but you can do that manually as demonstrated further below.

Apple TV

Follow the steps below if you’d like to prevent Apple from storing and reviewing your Siri and Dictation interactions made on your Apple TV media-streaming box.

1) Open Settings on your Apple TV with tvOS 13.2 or later.

2) Choose General from the root list.

3) Select Privacy.

4) Select Improve Siri & Dictation.

5) Click Improve Siri & Dictation so that it reads “Off”.

This will stop Apple from reviewing future Siri and Dictation interactions associated with this Apple TV. This option must be separately disabled on any other Apple TVs you may use.

Opting out of Siri audio sharing won’t automatically delete your Siri and Dictation history associated with this Apple TV. You must do that manually, as explained further below.

HomePod

Do the following to stop Apple from reviewing audio recordings and transcriptions of your interactions with Siri and Dictation on your HomePod wireless speaker.

1) Open the Home app on your iOS device with iOS 13.2 or later.

2) Now press or tap and hold your HomePod underneath the heading Favorite Accessories in the Home tab. No HomePod listed in favorites? No worries, select the tab Rooms and use the hamburger icon in the top-left corner to select the room where the device is located.

3) Tap the cog icon in the card’s bottom-right corner.

4) Tap Analytics & Improvements.

5) Slide the switch next to Improve ‌Siri‌ & Dictation to the OFF position.

Siri grading

Going forward, Apple will no longer store and review audio recordings and transcriptions of your Siri and Dictation interactions from this HomePod. Keep in mind that this is a per-device option so don’t forget to toggle it separately on any other HomePods you may own.

Opting out of Siri audio sharing won’t automatically delete your Siri and Dictation history associated with this HomePod, but you can do that manually as explained further below.

To learn more about Apple’s privacy policy in terms of Siri and Dictation data collection on HomePod, tap the link “About improved Siri & Dictation” at the bottom.

How to delete your Siri history

By default, transcripts and audio recordings of your interactions with Siri and Dictation are stored on Apple’s servers and the system may flag a subset of the interactions for human review. But don’t you worry a thing, you will be asked whether or not you’d like to participate in the Siri grading program when you perform a clean install or upgrader to iOS 13.

Siri grading

You can also opt out later in Settings to prevent Apple from storing your Siri and Dictation interactions on its servers, as well as stop its employees from reviewing the data.

Be sure that your devices are running the most recent software updates, then follow these instructions on each device for which you’d like to delete Siri and Dictation history.

iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

To delete your Siri and Dictation audio recordings and remove any computer-generated transcriptions of your interactions from servers, follow the instructions below:

1) Open Settings on your iOS device with iOS 13.2 or later.

2) Choose Siri & Search from the main list.

3) Tap Siri & Dictation History at the bottom of the Ask Siri section.

4) Hit Delete Siri & Dictation History, then confirm the operation.

Delete Siri history

Congratulations, your Siri and Dictation interactions currently associated with this iPhone, iPad or iPod touch will be deleted from Apple’s servers. Be sure to repeat the steps above on every other iPhone, iPad and iPod touch device you may own.

Your Siri and Dictation interactions that are associated with the random identifier also get automatically deleted from servers when you turn both Siri and Dictation off.

To do so, disable the options Enable Dictation in Settings → General → Keyboard and Listen for Hey Siri in Settings → Siri & Search. On your iPhone X or later, be sure that Press Side Button for Siri is off. On iPhone 8 or earlier, disable the option Press Home for Siri.

You can learn more about how Apple is protecting your privacy when you use Siri and Dictation by choosing the link “About Ask Siri & Privacy”.

Mac

Follow the steps outlined below if you’d like to delete from Apple’s servers your Siri and Dictation interactions that have originated from a particular Mac you own:

1) Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu in macOS Catalina 10.15.1.

2) Click Siri in the System Preferences window.

3) Click Delete Siri & Dictation History next to Siri History, then confirm the operation.

Delete Siri history

Doing so shall remove Siri and Dictation interactions that are currently associated with this computer from Apple’s servers. Repeat this on every Mac system you own. The data that’s already been sampled to help improve Siri and Dictation won’t be deleted because it’s no longer associated with this Mac.

As a reminder, your Siri and Dictation interactions associated with the random identifier are automatically deleted from Apple’s servers when you disable Siri and Dictation.

To do so, go to System Preferences → Keyboard → Dictation, then set the radio button to Off next to Dictation. Next, go to System Preferences → Siri and untick the options Enable Ask Siri, Listen for Hey Siri (available on some Mac models) and Listen for Hey Siri on AirPods (available when you pair AirPods that support the Hey Siri function).

To learn more about how Apple is protecting your privacy when you use Siri, click the button Delete Siri Suggestions & Privacy and choose About Siri & Privacy at the bottom of the window.

Apple Watch

Follow the steps below in order to wipe clean any Siri and Dictation audio recordings and transcriptions from Apple’s servers that are currently associated with your Apple Watch.

1) Open Settings on your Apple Watch with watchOS 6.1 or later.

2) Choose Siri from the root list.

3) Tap Siri History.

4) Tap Delete Siri History, then confirm the operation.

Delete Siri history

Doing so will delete all Siri and Dictation history associated with this watch from servers. You must do this separately on every watch you own. The already-graded interactions won’t be deleted because they’re no longer associated with this watch.

Your Siri and Dictation history is automatically removed when you disable Siri and Dictation.

To do so, tap Settings → Siri on your watch or choose My Watch → Siri in the Watch app, then disable the options Listen for Hey Siri, Raise to Speak and/or Press Digital Crown. Lastly, slide the switch Dictation to the OFF position in Settings → General → Dictation on your watch or toggle off Enable Dictation in My Watch → General within the Watch app.

Apple TV

You can delete your Siri and Dictation audio recordings and transcriptions associated with your Apple TV from servers by following the steps included right ahead.

1) Open Settings on your Apple TV with tvOS 13.2 or later.

2) Choose General from the main list.

3) Select the option Siri History.

4) Click Delete Siri & Dictation History, then confirm the operation.

Congratulations, your Siri and Dictation history associated with this Apple TV will get removed from servers. Repeat the process for other Apple TVs you may own.

Your Siri and Dictation interactions are automatically removed from Apple’s servers when you disable both features. To disable Siri dictation, go to Settings → General → Dictation and turn dictation off. To turn Siri off on your Apple TV, go to Settings → General → Siri.

HomePod

A subset of questions you ask Siri may be selected for grading. To have Apple delete audio recordings and computer-generated transcriptions of your interactions from servers, do this:

1) Open the Home app on your iPhone with iOS 13.2 or later.

2) Now press or tap and hold your HomePod shown underneath the Favorite Accessories heading in the Home tab, then hit that cog icon in the card’s bottom-right corner. If the HomePod isn’t listed in your Favorites, select the tab Rooms and use the hamburger icon in the top-left corner to select the room where the wireless speaker is located.

3) Tap Siri History at the bottom of the Siri heading.

4) Tap Delete Siri History, then confirm the operation.

Delete Siri history

Your Siri and Dictation history associated with this HomePod will be deleted from Apple’s servers. Don’t forget to repeat this process on other HomePods you maw own.

You can read more information about how Apple is protecting your privacy when you use Siri on HomePod by tapping the link “About Siri and Privacy”.

About deleting Siri and Dictation history

When you choose to delete your Siri and Dictation interaction history from Apple’s servers, the system deletes only requests up to six months old. Furthermore, the system automatically strips the random identifier from any requests older than six month.

However, request history that’s dissociated from the random identifier may be retained on servers for up to two years in order to help Apple improve its voice features.

Siri grading

“The small subset of feature requests that have been reviewed may be kept beyond two years, without the random identifier, for ongoing improvement of Siri,” cautions the firm.

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