Digital/smart/virtual/voice assistants can be a Godsend. Like when they figure out you are antisocial and introverted and probably need help finding a St. Valentine’s Day date like Cortana did to me recently.
Or offer to automatically reply to your messages like Google’s Assistant does.
Or, to us gadget freaks, tease details of upcoming devices like Apple’s Siri did in the run up to the iPhone 6S launch. Or Samsung’s (now dead) S-Voice taking jibes at Siri.
It’s all jokes and fun when they do that. It provides the much-needed comic relief at the end of a long day but when your privacy is involved? It’s a nightmare as a UK woman recently found out. Her iPhone was picked up by a stranger who was able to access lots of private information stored on the phone through Siri.
Here’s how it played out on Twitter:
I asked siri what's my name. it pulled up her info. cool. I asked siri who do I call most. pulled up her recent calls. cool.
— I’ll go to jail over barbeque sauce (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017
I was about to call the most recent person but they called me first. I answer. the girl comes right back to get her phone. hooray. all good.
— I’ll go to jail over barbeque sauce (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017
How scary is this? Imagine a stranger having access to all this information!
but I realized when I pulled up her notifs & asked siri questions. I found her first & last name, where she lives, &where her car's parked.
— I’ll go to jail over barbeque sauce (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017
We totally agree with her observation
idk if it's just me, but it's scary to know that anyone can find this info about me all from me leaving my phone in the bathroom for 5mins
— I’ll go to jail over barbeque sauce (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017
Tip: change your iPhone settings to stop Siri from working when it’s locked. NOW! The convenience of asking Siri from across the room to do things for you (we are not saying you are lazy…) is lost if you stand to lose your privacy if your iPhone ends up in the wrong hands.
Stay safe. Peace.
be safe y'all 💖
— I’ll go to jail over barbeque sauce (@afronomics_) February 20, 2017
