'Tech users have long questioned whether their mobile devices and smart speakers eavesdrop on their private conversations. Apple's answer to that question is, 'No.'
Your iPhone may give you access to all the knowledge on the internet, but Apple insists it's not accessing it to listen to your conversations.
Federal lawmakers, though, appear to have listened to tech users' concerns about their devices possibly eavesdropping on them. In July, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters to the CEOs' of Apple and Alphabet inquiring about their company's privacy practices.
In a 19-page response letter, Apple's Director of Federal Government Affairs, Timothy Powderly wrote that iPhone's only listen to "recognize the clear, unambiguous audio trigger, 'Hey Siri.'' He also noted a visual alert lets users know when Siri, or a third-party app, is listening to them. Timothy Powderly also wrote in the letter. 'The customer is not our product, and our business model does not depend on collecting vast amounts of personally identifiable information to enrich targeted profiles marketed to advertisers.'
It's unclear if Alphabet, Google's parent company, has responded to the lawmakers' letter.
