As one of the world’s largest computing companies, you might expect IBM to welcome advances in technology.
But there is one breakthrough that the firm is intensely worried about – Siri, the ‘personal assistant’ feature on Apple’s latest iPhone.
IBM has banned its employees from using the handy tool at work over fears it will send sensitive information straight to Apple headquarters.
Siri, a feature which allows you to operate the iPhone using just your voice, was introduced on the iPhone 4S in October last year.
But what many Apple users might not realise is that the handy application beams every single thing they say to it back to the company’s servers.
Users’ voice commands are stored at a data centre in Maiden, North Carolina, according to Wired, and once they have been downloaded there are few restrictions on what Apple can do with them.
While the revelation that the firm is storing such intimate data may come as a shock to some iPhone users, the seemingly sinister process is clearly outlined in the phone’s licence agreement.
The agreement, to which all users must sign up, reads: ‘When you use Siri or Dictation, the things you say will be recorded and sent to Apple in order to convert what you say into text.’
