Legal - Ask Siri, Dictation & Privacy - Apple (2024)

FAQs

Is Siri Dictation Hipaa compliant? ›

Siri, the Apple virtual assistant and the dictation tool on Macs are not HIPAA compliant. The text and speech processing takes place in Apple data centers rather than on the device itself.

Siri Data and your requests are not used to build a marketing profile, and are never sold to anyone. If you have Location Services turned on, the location of your device at the time you make a request will also be sent to Apple to help Siri and Dictation improve the accuracy of its response to your requests.

*Deleting Siri and Dictation history deletes only requests that are associated with the random identifier. Your request history is associated with the random identifier for up to six months.

Photography, video, and audio recordings (collectively recordings) have the potential to violate patient privacy and interfere with patient care. Recordings must be taken, used, and/or disclosed in compliance with state and federal law.

You may obtain your patient's agreement verbally over the phone, but best practices, for your own protection, require that you make a note in your files to document this. And you should only disclose the minimum necessary.

In reality, the hack doesn't work and if you do tell Siri “17,” you will unwittingly be calling for emergency services. According to the Siri user guide, iPhones automatically call the local emergency number no matter what emergency number you say.

Don't ask Siri about any suspicious activity

Asking Siri questions such as how to hide a dead body or where to buy illegal drugs, will leave a digital footprint and can ultimately be used against you if you happen to get in trouble with the law later on.

Apparently, if the user whispers the question, the Siri response will be “I don't know what you mean by fourteen.” While some people may interpret this Siri response as eerie and eerie, it is essential to point out that these are just Easter eggs – hidden secrets that create interest and amusem*nt among users.

According to the Apple privacy policy mentioned above, even if you switch off the Siri iPhone microphone, Apple still has a detailed record of your prior interactions.

Although Siri is technically always listening in the sense that it is listening for its trigger phrase, it's important to recognize that it only starts recording after it hears “Hey Siri.” This means that Siri is not constantly recording or remembering everything you say.

Can Apple look at your texts? ›

With watchOS, iOS, and iPadOS, your messages are encrypted on your device so they can't be accessed without your passcode. iMessage and FaceTime are designed so that there's no way for Apple to read your messages when they're in transit between devices.

Asking Siri frustrating questions or insulting her can result in Siri becoming confused, upset, or angry.

By default, Siri will read your text message back to you before sending it, but you can turn this off.

Your iPhone has a feature called Announce Notifications. This feature makes Siri read your notifications out loud whenever you're using AirPods or Beats headphones, or when you're in your car.

States like California, Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Michigan and Montana require the consent of all parties of the conversation before taping is allowed. Otherwise, it will be illegal, and not admissible in court.

If an alleged victim records a crime in progress or if the alleged perpetrator accidentally records the event, the audio recording could get used in court. Also, there are additional exceptions for the media, emergencies, threats, and harassment.

Illegal Recording Under the Wiretap Act

Under the federal Wiretap Act, it is illegal for any person to secretly record an oral, telephonic, or electronic communication that other parties to the communication reasonably expect to be private. (18 U.S.C. § 2511.)

HIPAA violations occur when an organization runs afoul of the standards defined by this 1996 U.S. Federal legislation. Many HIPAA violations are related to accessing or sharing patients' protected health information (PHI). However, violations can also include items such as not training staff or monitoring access logs.

What information can be shared without violating HIPAA? All information can be shared without violating HIPAA provided it is shared for a permissible use or disclosure or the entity sharing the information has obtained a written authorization from the subject of the information.

Refusing to sign the acknowledgement does not prevent a provider or plan from using or disclosing health information as HIPAA permits. If you refuse to sign the acknowledgement, the provider must keep a record of this fact.

Why shouldn t you say 108 to Siri? ›

Saying “Siri 108” automatically dials 911 and happens because the number “108” is used to dial emergency services in India, and is the equivalent of dialing emergency services in the U.S. The “Siri 108” prank isn't new.

If you do need to contact the emergency services using your voice assistant, simply ask Siri to call 999 or “dial emergency services”. Siri gives you a five-second countdown, allowing users who have made a mistake to quickly cancel the call without causing any issues for the emergency services.

Try it yourself, bring about Siri and say “Find a 7 11”. Making this even more funny is that Siri properly converts the “7-11” request into the correct spelling of the store chain “7-Eleven”, but nonetheless she/he feeds you a mathematical answer of -4 anyway.

Apple has never created a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services. We have also never allowed any government direct access to Apple servers. And we never will.

Not every country or region uses 911. Along with the number 14, numbers 15, 17, 18, and 19 are also used to contact emergency services in countries and regions such as Albania, Chad, Mali, Martinique, Morocco, Tahiti, etc.

The security is on the device itself. If you use a screen lock password and/or fingerprint or FaceID then only you can unlock the device to use it or allow others use of it. You can also disable Siri altogether if you wish to.

Siri calls 911 when you say "108"

Saying "Hey Siri, 108" will instruct Siri to call emergency services for you. The phone assistant will give users a five second time span to cancel or make the emergency call.

If you're wondering what happens when you ask Siri to dial 112, it's the equivalent of you telling the voice assistant "911." By Mustafa Gatollari. Nov.

You can call back and tell the dispatcher it was an accident and they will decide whether or not to keep people coming or not. Nothing, 000 has no meaning here and telling her to say it does only that, makes siri say it.

Apple has admitted that some iPhones have been recording their owners' interactions with voice assistant Siri, even if instructed not to.

Why is my iPhone recording everything I say? ›

Go to -> Settings -> Accessibility -> Speak Auto-Text -> turn it Off.

Voice recognition: Four far-field mics

Siri can pick up your voice from a pretty significant distance—about 20 feet before you have to raise your voice. Even in the face of background noises like TV noises, conversation, or music, Siri can still hear the wake word.

Siri's Dark Side

Siri has some surprising, hair-raising, and at times, spine-chilling responses. It makes casual references to nimbostratus, a type of cloud. That's funny and expected. But after a quick look outside, you might see that nimbostratus are precisely the kind of clouds hanging above you.

On Android:

Open the Settings app on your phone, then choose Apps. Under General, tap Assistant, then See all Assistant Settings. From here, you can click the toggle to turn off “Hey Google.”

Formal discovery requires a party to disclose anything asked by the other party which is relevant and within the control of the party. This includes text messages (unless they were deleted). Failure to answer discovery may result in the finding of contempt against the spouse.

Spyware can be used by anyone, not just hackers

One popular app, mSpy, boasts the ability to monitor text messages, calls and social media interactions. The app can be installed remotely on an iPhone if you have the proper iCloud credentials. For Android phones, someone will need to install it on the phone directly.

Don't want Apple scanning photos on your device? Because Apple only scans photos uploaded to iCloud, you can choose to opt out of the new feature by disabling iCloud storage for your photos. Follow these steps to disable iCloud Photos: Open your iPhone or iPad and go to Settings.

Activate Siri with a button

Do one of the following: On an iPhone with Face ID: Press and hold the side button. On an iPhone with a Home button: Press and hold the Home button. EarPods: Press and hold the center or call button.

By default, Siri will call you by whatever name is listed in your personal contact file. Changing your personal contact information will change what Siri calls you. Open the Contacts app.

Setting up voice recognition helps Siri recognize the voice of different members of the household. , then make sure Listen for “Hey Siri” is turned on. On the iOS or iPadOS device of each member of the home, go to Settings > [user name] > Password & Security, then make sure Two-Factor Authentication is turned on.

How do I stop Siri from reading my text messages? ›

Siri can send a message right after it has been read back to you. Go to Settings > Siri & Search > Automatically Send Messages, then turn on Automatically Send Messages.

Simply put, the paid version of Google Voice for Google Workspace can be considered HIPAA compliant and utilized by healthcare organizations concerning PHI without breaching HIPAA regulations.

Apple's iCloud has outstanding authentication and access controls, and data is encrypted in storage and during transfer. The level of encryption used by Apple easily meets the minimum standard of compliance under HIPAA.

HIPAA Myths

Myth: iMessage is encrypted, so it is okay to send PHI through iMessage. Fact: It is not safe to use iMessage to send PHI. Although iMessage is encrypted, Apple keeps a 30-day cache of messages on its servers, and users can use iCloud Backup to save and store messages.

Within the realm of HIPAA, what are you allowed to say? And who are you allowed to speak with? The HIPAA Privacy Rule does permit health care providers to communicate via voicemail to their patients. This may be regarding their appointments, prescriptions, or other information about their care.

Medical speech-to-text is often HIPAA-compliant, with two key factors determining whether your platform handles patient information in accordance with federal law. This article is for practice owners and practitioners interested in obtaining medical speech-to-text technology for their practices.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule for the first time creates national standards to protect individuals' medical records and other personal health information. It gives patients more control over their health information. It sets boundaries on the use and release of health records.

And the answer is YES! Google Docs (with a paid Google Workspace subscription, signed BAA and appropriately configured settings) can be HIPAA compliant.

When you use this feature, all data you choose to share with your healthcare organization that is maintained by Apple will be stored in a secure system in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy and security standards.

How private are Apple notes? ›

You can lock notes with your iPhone passcode. Or, you can create a unique password only for Notes. Both options keep your information secure with end-to-end encryption for iCloud accounts.

Secure notes

The note and all of its attachments are encrypted using AES with Galois/Counter Mode (AES-GCM). New records are created in Core Data and CloudKit to store the encrypted note, attachments, tag, and initialization vector. After the new records are created, the original unencrypted data is deleted.

Yes, it's definitely possible for someone to spy on your text messages and it's certainly something you should be aware of – this is a potential way for a hacker to gain a lot of private information about you – including accessing PIN codes sent by websites used to verify your identity (such as online banking).

With watchOS, iOS, and iPadOS, your messages are encrypted on your device so they can't be accessed without your passcode. iMessage and FaceTime are designed so that there's no way for Apple to read your messages when they're in transit between devices.

To ensure HIPAA-compliant texting, businesses must use a secure SMS platform and ensure necessary administrative, physical, and technical safeguards are in place. If texting is used to transmit ePHI, it must be secured using encryption or other appropriate security measures to prevent unauthorized access.

iMessage and HIPAA Encryption

That means that if Apple experienced a data breach or decided to access those servers, then any PHI that was transferred via iMessage would be readily accessible. HIPAA sets specific standards for the type of encryption that must be in place in order to keep data secure.