Apple assures American politicians that iPhones do not record unsolicited audio

Apple has informed US politicians concerned that the iPhone will not record audio when listening to Siri hotwords and that third-party apps may only use the microphone with permission.

Apple emphasizes that apps must clearly indicate that they are listening in and that the company does not share audio data with other parties. Reuters reports that Apple is responding to questions from US politicians, who wrote in a July letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook that they were concerned about reports that smartphones could record unsolicited audio from conversations when listening to hotwords like “Okay Google” and ” Hey Siri’. Alphabet’s CEO Larry Page also received that letter.

The politicians also wrote about reports that third-party apps could listen in to users, without their consent. The concerns followed the US congressional hearing on possible privacy breaches by Facebook in connection with the collection of user data by Cambridge Analytica.

It is not known whether Alphabet has already responded to the privacy concerns. A Republican-majority spokeswoman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee said “both companies have cooperated so far” and the committee is considering next steps.