Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you.
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@zackwhittaker I was just about to toot about the weirdness of this feature. It has a summary "that let's you go back in time for 15 seconds", but also, somehow, "Privacy is protected at every step. These audio intelligence features do not create or store audio recordings."
These back to back statements are at odds with each other unless there's some slimey technicality legalese that allow them to be true like 'we write a transcript which technically isn't an audio recording'
I’m really hoping Apple’s continuous audio transcription, when they say “recordings can’t be accessed” isn’t just security via obscurity (would only be possible if the device was jailbroken), and I’m assuming and hoping that it functions in a similar way to how Siri’s wake word detection works. In that it isn’t recording and writing anything to the disk. But rather, just grabbing raw microphone data and transcribing directly.
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker equally terrible idea https://heypocket.com/
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@sylvie @zackwhittaker the feature is always recording, but it is likely implemented as a ringbuffer, so it can not buffer more than 30 seconds of audio.
for spying, it would have to either compress and send off the audio in packets (you see traffic and shrinking hard drive space) OR build the much smaller transcript and send that one along with regular traffic (tpu use, wastes significant battery when there is a lot of talking)
@lritter @zackwhittaker It's probably worth pointing out there's 2 surveillance features that were highlighted: Live Rewind which has that ~15 second of ring buffer. What is more concerning to me is the Siri Recap feature that "ambiently takes notes on your conversations throughout your day and creates high-level Apple Intelligence–generated summaries that you can use later to jog your memory, so you can stay present in the moment. Your summaries auto-delete after 7 days if you choose not to save them."
Through a business view, this is a problem because it's one more device by which sensitive things communicated orally can be more casually exfiltrated. From a just trying to live my life view and hanging around in sensitive third spaces, this is a privacy nightmare unless tech like the Deveillance Spectre I is able to properly counter this.
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@lritter @zackwhittaker It's probably worth pointing out there's 2 surveillance features that were highlighted: Live Rewind which has that ~15 second of ring buffer. What is more concerning to me is the Siri Recap feature that "ambiently takes notes on your conversations throughout your day and creates high-level Apple Intelligence–generated summaries that you can use later to jog your memory, so you can stay present in the moment. Your summaries auto-delete after 7 days if you choose not to save them."
Through a business view, this is a problem because it's one more device by which sensitive things communicated orally can be more casually exfiltrated. From a just trying to live my life view and hanging around in sensitive third spaces, this is a privacy nightmare unless tech like the Deveillance Spectre I is able to properly counter this.
@sylvie @zackwhittaker oh ok. yeah that part is capital S sus. good thing the only apple i buy is granny smith
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@lritter @zackwhittaker It's probably worth pointing out there's 2 surveillance features that were highlighted: Live Rewind which has that ~15 second of ring buffer. What is more concerning to me is the Siri Recap feature that "ambiently takes notes on your conversations throughout your day and creates high-level Apple Intelligence–generated summaries that you can use later to jog your memory, so you can stay present in the moment. Your summaries auto-delete after 7 days if you choose not to save them."
Through a business view, this is a problem because it's one more device by which sensitive things communicated orally can be more casually exfiltrated. From a just trying to live my life view and hanging around in sensitive third spaces, this is a privacy nightmare unless tech like the Deveillance Spectre I is able to properly counter this.
@lritter @zackwhittaker Or just even doing date nights. I don't like that I can be out at a place with my partner, and I now have to deal with the fact our personal conversation could be 'ambiently' picked up and thrown into the Siri Recap of anyone sitting near us to be saved. Super creepy and counterproductive to enjoying a date night.
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@lritter @zackwhittaker Or just even doing date nights. I don't like that I can be out at a place with my partner, and I now have to deal with the fact our personal conversation could be 'ambiently' picked up and thrown into the Siri Recap of anyone sitting near us to be saved. Super creepy and counterproductive to enjoying a date night.
@sylvie @zackwhittaker do we just call it the pervert phone? what's the shaming angle this time? how to cancel this product
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker creepy, yes, but smart teevees do it and doesn't gemini on android?
Why anyone thinks it's a good idea to normalize it is beyond me
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker that will help some. My son has interviews from hundreds of bands. He was going to put them all in a book. He hasn't done it yet. Something like that, just might be what someone who wants to do that needs. I'll tell him.
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@lritter @prism @sylvie @zackwhittaker
It was my understanding from the presentation that they do keep a recording of the last 15 seconds (in RAM, possibly a dedicated "secure exclave") and pipe that to an STT if triggered, with a pinky-promise to not store it persistently. -
Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker Shockingly tone deaf. How long do we think it’ll take before they change/remove the feature?
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker And someone needs to test extensively. I found problems in prior promises:
https://medium.com/@boblord/icloud-private-relay-and-dns-privacy-968d210a62bb
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker I just don't understand how any corporation thinks this is a good idea with 75%+ of the country absolutely rabid (rightfully) towards Flock.
I'm slowly coming to the realization that all Big Tech and SV know how to do is surveillance.
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker I'm not a lawyer, but as far as I know, it's illegal to record other people without explicit consent in Australia.
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@zackwhittaker I just don't understand how any corporation thinks this is a good idea with 75%+ of the country absolutely rabid (rightfully) towards Flock.
I'm slowly coming to the realization that all Big Tech and SV know how to do is surveillance.
@distractal @zackwhittaker can't spell surveillance without SV and VC
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
@zackwhittaker i *really* don't think their privacy claims are likely to be true. extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.
on the other hand, i can see legit uses for this, if they were. disabled folks. meetings that take place away from a computer (or if it works better than all the other crappy solutions on one).
on the THIRD hand: needs to be an obvious box with a big flashing light or something; not spy tech. (my watch is a buzzsaw!)
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@sylvie @zackwhittaker
"unless there's some slimey technicality legalese that allow them to be true like 'we write a transcript which technically isn't an audio recording'"You nailed it.
@nurglerider
It's worth noting that GamersNexus seemed to indicate that LG's use of "ambient" was potentially their way out of a lie legally... Nothing is confirmed of course but it is weird that LG and now Apple are using the same word and we know LG is being super creepy. -
@nurglerider
It's worth noting that GamersNexus seemed to indicate that LG's use of "ambient" was potentially their way out of a lie legally... Nothing is confirmed of course but it is weird that LG and now Apple are using the same word and we know LG is being super creepy.@bobkmertz @sylvie @zackwhittaker Yeah that's pretty messed up.
TBH the only way we get out from under this crap is to stop giving these companies money. It's the only language they understand.
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@nurglerider
It's worth noting that GamersNexus seemed to indicate that LG's use of "ambient" was potentially their way out of a lie legally... Nothing is confirmed of course but it is weird that LG and now Apple are using the same word and we know LG is being super creepy.@bobkmertz @nurglerider@mastodon.social @sylvie @zackwhittaker@mastodon.social
what i've seen so far in the GN doc is that LG tries to squirm their way out of doing something very illegal by pretending that masking digital audio in certain ways can't be unmasked, which GN then unmasks using very simple methods anyone with a copy of Audacity could do on their own. it's kind of mindblowing that LG would think nobody would ever investigate and find this out.
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
Why doesn't so many believe when I say apple, google, and so many more corporations who bought their own government are evil?
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Watching this Apple event tout how iPhones will soon be able to record ambient audio/conversations and transcribe "high level notes" for you. It's billed as private and end-to-end encrypted, but I think the bigger harm is the normalization of always-listening devices. It's creepy and not normal.
The normalizing part is what stands out to me too. Even if the processing is private, people getting used to devices listening all the time is a much bigger shift than one feature.
