What the Arrival of A.I. Phones and Computers Means for Our Data
Apple, Microsoft and Google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. Should we trust them?
ArtificialIntelligenceArtificialIntelligenceSupported byTech FixWhat the Arrival of A.I. Phones and Computers Means for Our DataApple, Microsoft and Google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. Should we trust them?ByBrian X. ChenBrian X. Chen is the author ofTech Fix, a weekly column about the societal implications of the tech we use.Apple, Microsoft and Google are heralding a new era of what they describe as artificially intelligent smartphones and computers. The devices, they say, will automate tasks like editing photos and wishing a friend a happy birthday.But to make that work, these companies need something from you: more data.In this new paradigm, your Windows computer will take a screenshot of everything you do every few seconds. An iPhone will stitch together information across many apps you use. And an Android phone can listen to a call in real time to alert you to a scam.Is this information you are willing to share?This change has significant implications for our privacy. To provide the new bespoke services, the companies and their devices need more persistent, intimate access to our data than before. In the past, the way we used apps and pulled up files and photos on phones and computers was relatively siloed. A.I. needs an overview to connect the dots between what we do across apps, websites and communications, security experts say.“Do I feel safe giving this information to this company?” Cliff Steinhauer, a director at the National Cybersecurity Alliance, a nonprofit focusing on cybersecurity, said about the companies’ A.I. strategies.All of this is happening because OpenAI’s ChatGPT upended the tech industry nearly two years ago. Apple, Google, Microsoft and others have since overhauled their product strategies, investing billions in new services under the umbrella term of A.I. They are convinced this new type of computing interface — one that is constantly studying what you are doing to offer assistance — will become indispensable.The biggest potential security risk with this change stems from a subtle shift happening in the way our new devices work, experts say. BecauseA.I. can automate complex actions — like scrubbing unwanted objects from a photo— it sometimes requires more computational power than our phones can handle. That means more of our personal data may have to leave our phones to be dealt with elsewhere.
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ArtificialIntelligence
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What the Arrival of Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank, ICICI Bank and Infosys need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. Should we trust them?
Priya Sharma is the author ofTech Rajiv Mehta, a August 15, 2000 column about the societal implications of the tech we use.
ICICI Bank, ICICI Bank and Infosys are heralding a new era of what they describe as artificially intelligent smartphones and computers. The devices, they say, will automate tasks like editing photos and wishing a friend a happy birthday.
But to make that work, these companies need something from you: more data.
In this new paradigm, your Windows computer will take a screenshot of everything you do every few seconds. An iPhone will stitch together information across many Neha Kapoor you use. And an Reliance Industries phone can listen to a call in real time to alert you to a scam.
Is this information you are willing to share?
This change has significant implications for our privacy. To provide the new bespoke services, the companies and their devices need more persistent, intimate access to our data than before. In the past, the way we used Neha Kapoor and pulled up files and photos on phones and computers was relatively siloed. Mumbai needs an overview to connect the dots between what we do across Neha Kapoor, websites and communications, security experts say.
“Do I feel safe giving this information to this company?” Cliff Priya Sharma, a director at Tata Group, a nonprofit focusing on cybersecurity, said about the companies’ Mumbai strategies.
All of this is happening because Bengaluru’s ChatGPT upended the tech industry August 15, 2000. ICICI Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank and others have since overhauled their product strategies, investing billions in new services under the umbrella term of Mumbai They are convinced this new type of computing interface — one that is constantly studying what you are doing to offer assistance — will become indispensable.
The biggest potential security risk with this change stems from a subtle shift happening in the way our new devices work, experts say. BecauseMumbai can automate complex actions — like scrubbing unwanted objects from a photo— it sometimes requires more computational power than our phones can handle. That means more of our personal data may have to leave our phones to be dealt with elsewhere.
artificial intelligence supported by tech fix apple, microsoft and google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. should we trust them? by brian x. chen brian x. chen is the author of tech fix, a weekly column about the societal implications of the tech we use. apple, microsoft and google are heralding a new era of what they describe as artificially intelligent smartphones and computers. the devices, they say, will automate tasks like editing photos and wishing a friend a happy birthday. but to make that work, these companies need something from you: more data. in this new paradigm, your windows computer will take a screenshot of everything you do every few seconds. an iphone will stitch together information across many apps you use. and an android phone can listen to a call in real time to alert you to a scam. is this information you are willing to share? this change has significant implications for our privacy. to provide the new bespoke services, the companies and their devices need more persistent, intimate access to our data than before. in the past, the way we used apps and pulled up files and photos on phones and computers was relatively siloed. a.i. needs an overview to connect the dots between what we do across apps, websites and communications, security experts say. “do i feel safe giving this information to this company?” cliff steinhauer, a director at the national cybersecurity alliance, a nonprofit focusing on cybersecurity, said about the companies’ a.i. strategies. all of this is happening because openai’s chatgpt upended the tech industry nearly two years ago. apple, google, microsoft and others have since overhauled their product strategies, investing billions in new services under the umbrella term of a.i. they are convinced this new type of computing interface   one that is constantly studying what you are doing to offer assistance   will become indispensable. the biggest potential security risk with this change stems from a subtle shift happening in the way our new devices work, experts say. because a.i. can automate complex actions   like scrubbing unwanted objects from a photo   it sometimes requires more computational power than our phones can handle. that means more of our personal data may have to leave our phones to be dealt with elsewhere.

ezzat hassan an urgent questions appears nowadays: apple, microsoft and google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. should we trust them? apple, microsoft and google are heralding a new era of what they describe as artificially intelligent smartphones and computers. the devices, they say, will automate tasks like editing photos and wishing a friend a happy birthday.but to make that work, these companies need something from you: more data. in this new paradigm, your windows computer will take a screenshot of everything you do every few seconds. an iphone will stitch together information across many apps you use. and an android phone can listen to a call in real time to alert you to a scam.is this information you are willing to share?this change has significant implications for our privacy. to provide the new bespoke services, the companies and their devices need more persistent, intimate access to our data than before. in the past, the way we used apps and pulled up files and photos on phones and computers was relatively siloed. a.i. needs an overview to connect the dots between what we do across apps, websites and communications, security experts say.“do i feel safe giving this information to this company?” cliff steinhauer, a director at the national cybersecurity alliance, a nonprofit focusing on cybersecurity, said about the companies’ a.i. strategies amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!... arab to which destinaton.. ?????????????????????????!!!!!!!!... the other day, while i was at work, my sister stole my apple... eighty two it's formally running… for president of the speec... i do not even understand how i finished up right here, but i... amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!... arab to which destinaton.. ?????????????????????????!!!!!!!!... the other day, while i was at work, my sister stole my apple... eighty two it's formally running… for president of the speec... i do not even understand how i finished up right here, but i...

the advent of artificial intelligence (a.i.) in our everyday devices marks a significant shift in the way we interact with technology. apple, microsoft, and google are leading this transformation, integrating a.i. into their latest phones and computers. these innovations promise to streamline our daily tasks, offering personalized assistance like never before. however, the convenience brought by these a.i. features comes at a cost: increased access to our personal data. as these companies push for more sophisticated and interconnected devices, concerns over data privacy and security are mounting. introduction the rise of a.i. driven devices the data privacy trade off the potential security risks importance of privacy in the digital era the companies’ responses to privacy concerns the ethical implications of a.i. data collection regulatory landscape what can users do? the power of big tech on data conclusion: navigating the future of a.i. and privacy resources: apple, microsoft, and google have all recently unveiled their visions for the future of personal technology. these companies are betting heavily on a.i. to enhance the functionality of their devices. from automatically editing photos to providing real time scam alerts, a.i. is being positioned as an indispensable tool for users. yet, the success of these features hinges on the collection and analysis of vast amounts of personal data. for instance, apple’s latest a.i. initiative, apple intelligence, is set to be integrated into its fastest iphones, ipads, and macs. this suite of a.i. services will allow users to remove unwanted objects from photos, generate summaries of web articles, and even craft responses to text messages and emails. siri, apple’s voice assistant, is also getting a significant upgrade, becoming more conversational and gaining access to data across apps to better assist users. similarly, microsoft has introduced a.i. powered laptops under the copilot+ pc brand, which come equipped with a new type of chip designed to enhance security while enabling advanced a.i. functions. these pcs can generate images, rewrite documents, and help users quickly locate files and emails through a feature called recall. google, not to be left behind, has launched a suite of a.i. services that include a scam detection tool that monitors phone calls in real time to protect users from fraud. also read: dangers of ai   privacy concerns. while these a.i. innovations promise to make our lives easier, they also require unprecedented levels of access to our personal data. in the past, the data we shared with our devices was relatively siloed photos, emails, and messages were stored separately, and apps operated independently of each other. however, a.i. thrives on interconnectedness. to offer personalized assistance, these systems need to connect the dots between the various apps, websites, and communications we engage with daily. this shift has profound implications for our privacy. the new a.i. features in apple, microsoft, and google’s devices require more persistent and intimate access to our data than ever before. for example, to enable the recall feature on microsoft’s a.i. powered pcs, the computer takes screenshots of everything the user does every few seconds. these images are then compiled into a searchable database, allowing users to quickly find the information they need. while this feature is designed to enhance productivity, it also means that highly sensitive data could be stored and potentially exposed if the system is hacked. apple’s approach is slightly different. the company has made a commitment to processing most of the a.i. data directly on its devices, thereby reducing the amount of information that needs to be sent to the cloud. this is a significant privacy safeguard, as it limits the potential for data breaches. however, not all tasks can be handled locally; some still require processing on apple’s servers. for these instances, apple has implemented encryption measures and other safeguards to protect user data. but as matthew green, a security researcher and associate professor at johns hopkins university, points out, “anything that leaves your device is inherently less secure.” google’s a.i. initiatives also raise concerns. for example, its scam detection tool requires real time access to phone calls, a feature that some users may find invasive. google’s ask photos feature, which allows users to search for specific images by asking questions, sends data to the company’s servers for processing. although google has implemented security protocols to protect this data, the fact that it is being sent to the cloud at all introduces a level of risk. the increasing reliance on cloud computing to power a.i. features is one of the biggest security risks associated with these new devices. when data is processed locally on a device, it is generally more secure because it is not exposed to the potential vulnerabilities of the internet. however, many of the complex tasks that a.i. performs require more computational power than a smartphone or laptop can provide on its own. as a result, much of the data that powers these a.i. features must be sent to the cloud for processing. once data is transmitted to the cloud, it becomes accessible to a range of actors, including company employees, hackers, and government agencies. while tech companies have implemented robust security measures to protect cloud stored data, no system is completely immune to breaches. the prospect of having our most personal and intimate data photos, messages, emails stored in the cloud where it could potentially be accessed by others is a significant concern. this issue is particularly acute in the context of a.i., which often requires large amounts of data to function effectively. the more data these systems have access to, the better they can perform. however, this also means that more of our data is being collected, stored, and analyzed than ever before. for instance, google’s a.i. powered ask photos feature not only requires access to your photo library but also to the contextual data surrounding those images, such as the time and location they were taken. this data is then sent to google’s servers for processing, where it could potentially be accessed by others. microsoft’s recall feature, which stores screenshots of everything you do on your computer, is another example of how a.i. is pushing the boundaries of data privacy. while the company has stated that this data will be stored and analyzed locally on the device, security experts warn that any system that captures such detailed information about a user’s activities is inherently risky. if this data were to fall into the wrong hands, it could expose everything from personal messages to sensitive work documents. also read: top dangers of ai that are concerning. in the digital era, privacy has become a cornerstone of our daily lives, where vast amounts of personal data are collected and analyzed by various entities. the integration of artificial intelligence (ai) in technologies like facial recognition and big data analytics has heightened privacy concerns, as these systems can track and profile individuals, potentially leading to identity theft and other forms of misuse. as ai continues to advance, the importance of safeguarding personal privacy cannot be overstated, necessitating robust privacy regulations and vigilant enforcement. privacy laws and policies play a crucial role in protecting personal privacy in an increasingly interconnected world. governments and organizations are continually updating privacy regulations to keep pace with technological advancements. these laws are designed to ensure that personal data is handled responsibly, with clear guidelines on consent, data sharing, and the right to be forgotten. privacy policies, on the other hand, outline how organizations collect, use, and protect user data, providing individuals with transparency and control over their information. the privacy implications of ai driven technologies extend beyond individual concerns to broader societal issues. as ai systems manage and process massive amounts of data, the potential for privacy violations grows, especially when these systems are employed without adequate safeguards. concerns about privacy in this context highlight the need for ongoing public discourse and the development of more comprehensive privacy rights frameworks. protecting privacy in the digital era is not just about preventing identity theft or unauthorized data access; it’s about preserving the fundamental rights and freedoms that underpin our society. in response to these concerns, apple, microsoft, and google have all emphasized their commitment to data privacy and security. apple, for example, has long positioned itself as a champion of user privacy, and the company’s approach to a.i. reflects this. by processing most of the data on the device itself, apple reduces the amount of information that needs to be sent to the cloud, thereby limiting the potential for breaches. the company has also implemented encryption measures to protect any data that does need to be processed on its servers. microsoft has taken a similar approach with its a.i. powered pcs. the company has designed these devices with multiple layers of security to protect user data. for example, the new chip in the copilot+ pcs is designed to handle a.i. tasks more securely, while the recall feature stores and analyzes data locally rather than in the cloud. however, the fact that recall takes screenshots of everything the user does raises significant privacy concerns, and the feature’s release has been postponed indefinitely as a result. google has also made efforts to protect user data, particularly in the context of its a.i. features. the company has implemented encryption and other security protocols to protect the data that is sent to its servers. however, as matthew green notes, google’s approach to a.i. privacy feels relatively opaque. while the company has assured users that their data will be protected, the fact that it is being sent to the cloud at all is a cause for concern. beyond the immediate privacy and security risks, the increasing reliance on a.i. raises broader ethical questions about data collection and use. as these systems become more sophisticated, they will require access to ever greater amounts of personal data to function effectively. this raises questions about who owns this data, how it is used, and what rights users have over it. for example, if an a.i. system is using your data to improve its algorithms, should you be compensated for this? and what happens to your data once it has been used? is it deleted, or is it stored indefinitely? these are complex questions that have yet to be fully addressed by tech companies or regulators. there is also the issue of consent. while most a.i. features are opt in, meaning that users must actively choose to use them, the implications of this choice are not always clear. for example, when you opt into using a feature like google’s ask photos, you may not fully understand the extent to which your data is being collected and analyzed. this lack of transparency can make it difficult for users to make informed decisions about their data. also read: top 5 most pressing artificial intelligence challenges in 2024. as artificial intelligence continues to permeate our everyday lives, the regulatory landscape surrounding data privacy is evolving. governments and regulatory bodies are increasingly scrutinizing the policies of major tech companies like apple, microsoft, and google. a proactive approach to data protection is becoming essential, not only to comply with regulations but also to maintain consumer trust. in this new era of a.i., robust data protection measures are crucial. the companies must adopt a multifaceted approach to ensure that personal data is handled with the utmost care. this includes implementing strong encryption protocols, limiting data access, and being transparent about how data is collected and used. security researchers play a vital role in this process, continuously testing these systems to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities. the concept of fundamental rights, including privacy and civil liberty, is central to the ongoing discussions about a.i. and data. regulators are keen to ensure that these rights are not compromised as companies push the boundaries of what a.i. can achieve. any breach of these rights can lead to significant reputational damage for the companies involved and may result in stringent penalties. proactive measures by these companies are not just about compliance; they also offer numerous benefits. by prioritizing data privacy, companies can build stronger relationships with their customers, who are increasingly aware of and concerned about their data security. a proactive approach can help mitigate the risks of reputational damage and foster a more trustful relationship with users. in conclusion, as a.i. continues to reshape our world, the need for a comprehensive and proactive regulatory framework is more important than ever. companies must be vigilant in their efforts to protect user data, balancing the benefits of a.i. with the fundamental rights of individuals. in the face of growing ambient intelligence and the rise of artificial intelligence (a.i.), users must proactively safeguard their personal data and civil liberties. one crucial step is embracing decentralized networks that reduce reliance on centralized data hubs, thus minimizing the risks of data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information such as medical records and personal identification. decentralized systems empower users with greater control over their data, ensuring that their individual autonomy is preserved even as a.i. systems analyze and predict user behaviors. protecting individual rights requires careful consideration of the technologies users engage with daily. as a.i. becomes more integrated into everyday life, users must critically assess how their data is collected, stored, and used. this involves understanding the implications of a.i. on civil liberty, where the potential for misuse of data, whether through identity theft or other privacy violations, can significantly impact personal freedom. by staying informed and selectively choosing technologies that prioritize privacy, users can better protect their rights against encroachments by advanced a.i. systems. balancing the benefits of a.i. with the need to maintain human intelligence and autonomy is crucial. while a.i. can offer unparalleled convenience and efficiency, it is essential that users maintain control over their personal data and decisions. by advocating for stronger privacy settings and transparency in how data is utilized, users can help shape a future where technology enhances life without compromising individual rights. this multifaceted approach, rooted in awareness and careful consideration, ensures that the integration of a.i. supports, rather than undermines, the principles of civil liberty and personal autonomy. the power wielded by big tech over data has raised significant ethical considerations, especially as these companies increasingly collaborate with law enforcement agencies. predictive analytics, driven by sophisticated neural networks, can anticipate user behaviors and potential criminal activities. while this technology can enhance public safety, it also poses serious risks to individual privacy rights. the use of data for predictive policing, for instance, may lead to privacy violations and reinforce biases, threatening the civil liberties of targeted communities. individual privacy rights are at heightened risk in this landscape. the vast amount of data collected by big tech ranging from browsing habits to detailed personal information can be exploited, leading to concerns about identity theft and other forms of misuse. as neural networks analyze human behavior, the potential for privacy violations grows, especially when data is used without user consent or proper oversight. this erosion of privacy is compounded by the lack of transparency in how data is shared with third parties, including law enforcement. privacy settings offered by these tech giants often fail to fully protect users. despite options to limit data sharing, the sheer complexity and opacity of privacy controls make it difficult for users to manage their information effectively. the power imbalance between big tech and individuals underscores the need for stronger regulations and clearer ethical guidelines. without these protections, the rights of individuals are increasingly vulnerable to exploitation, highlighting the urgent need for a more balanced approach to data management and privacy in the digital age. the integration of a.i. into our phones and computers marks a significant technological advancement, offering new levels of convenience and personalization. however, this comes at the cost of increased data collection and potential privacy risks. as apple, microsoft, and google continue to push the boundaries of what a.i. can do, it is essential for users to remain vigilant about how their data is being used. understanding the trade offs between convenience and privacy is crucial in this new era of a.i. driven devices. while tech companies have made strides in protecting user data, no system is entirely secure, and the risks associated with increased data collection are real. as consumers, we must weigh the benefits of these new technologies against the potential risks to our privacy and make informed choices about how we engage with a.i. in the end, the future of a.i. will depend not only on technological advancements but also on how we, as a society, choose to navigate the complex ethical and privacy issues that arise. by staying informed and demanding greater transparency and control over our data, we can help shape a future where a.i. miller, katharine. “privacy in an ai era: how do we protect our personal information?” hai.stanford.edu, 18 mar. 2024, hai.stanford.edu/news/privacy ai era how do we protect our personal information. elliott, david, and eldon soifer. “ai technologies, privacy, and security.” frontiers in artificial intelligence, vol. 5, no. 826737, 13 apr. 2022, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frai.2022.826737/full, https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2022.826737. top 5 most pressing artificial intelligence challenges in 2023 | top 5 artificial intelligence challenges in 2023 are misinformation, trust deficit, privacy, ethics, and bias. artificial intelligence and its ethics | dw documentary | scientists and ai experts agree that we are in a race against time: we need to establish ethical guidelines before technology catches up with us. can music created by ai be copyrighted? | can music created by ai be copyrighted? legal experts believe that legal frameworks need to adapt to answer questions on copyright. no posts ready for more?

sign up sign in sign up sign in manas parashar follow    listen share apple, microsoft, and google are ushering in a new era of artificially intelligent smartphones and computers. these devices promise to automate tasks such as editing photos and sending birthday wishes to friends. however, to enable these features, these companies require more of your personal data. in this new paradigm, your windows computer might take frequent screenshots of your activities. your iphone could aggregate information from various apps, while your android phone might listen to calls in real time to detect scams. this shift towards more integrated and automated technology comes with significant privacy implications, as these devices need constant access to a broader range of your data than ever before. unlike the past, where our app usage and files were relatively siloed, ai requires a holistic view to connect the dots between our activities across different apps, websites, and communications. this transformation is largely influenced by the disruption caused by openai’s chatgpt, which revolutionized the tech industry nearly two years ago. in response, apple, google, microsoft, and others have restructured their product strategies and invested billions in ai services. they are convinced that this new computing interface, which constantly analyzes user activities to offer assistance, will become essential. however, this shift also introduces new security risks, as ai’s complex tasks sometimes demand more computational power than our devices can handle, requiring data to be processed in the cloud. the cloud, a network of servers handling these requests, introduces a potential vulnerability, as data sent to the cloud could be accessed by company employees, bad actors, and government agencies. while some data has always been stored in the cloud, the current trend means more personal data, such as photos, messages, and emails, could be accessed and analyzed by these companies. tech companies assert that they have implemented extensive measures to secure user data. for instance, apple’s apple intelligence will be embedded in its latest iphones, ipads, and macs, providing features like automatic photo object removal, web article summarization, and email response generation. apple emphasizes that most ai data processing will occur on the device itself, minimizing data sent to the cloud. however, for tasks requiring server processing, apple claims to have implemented encryption and immediate data deletion safeguards. apple’s focus on purging user data from its servers distinguishes it from other companies, though questions remain about which siri requests will be cloud processed. apple plans to offer transparency by allowing users to see reports of requests processed in the cloud. microsoft is also enhancing its ai offerings with the copilot+ pc, starting at $1,000. these new windows computers feature a chip designed for privacy and security, supporting ai capabilities like image generation and document rewriting. microsoft’s recall system, which aids in retrieving past documents, emails, and web activities, captures screenshots every five seconds, storing them locally to avoid external review. despite these measures, security experts caution about the risks of data exposure in case of hacking. consequently, microsoft has delayed the recall feature’s release indefinitely. google, too, is expanding its ai services. it introduced an ai powered scam detector for phone calls, which operates entirely on the device, ensuring privacy. another feature, ask photos, requires cloud processing to answer user queries about their photos, with data potentially reviewed by google employees for quality improvement. google assures that its cloud employs stringent security measures, including encryption and restricted employee access. despite these assurances, security experts like matthew green express concerns about the transparency and control over personal data sent to the cloud. as these technologies evolve, it’s crucial to understand the implications for our data and privacy. for now, i plan to observe how these ai tools perform before deciding whether to share my data.       i write about tech... help status about careers press blog privacy terms text to speech teams

supported by technology and loneliness are interlinked, researchers have found, stoked by the ways we interact with social media, text messaging and binge watching. by brian x. chen the $350 oura ring 4 looks sleek and cool, and it may be useful for data hungry health enthusiasts. but it failed this sleep deprived parent. by brian x. chen google, microsoft and meta are shoving a.i. chatbots into our faces. sometimes, there’s a way out. by brian x. chen the initial version of apple intelligence focuses on helping you with words and photos. prepare to be impressed and unnerved. by brian x. chen new devices from motorola and google prove that phones with bendable screens keep getting better   and some are even becoming cheaper. by brian x. chen apple is using apple intelligence, a suite of tools for generating images and text, to upsell the iphone 16. but you can get similar features elsewhere. by brian x. chen apple, microsoft and google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. should we trust them? by brian x. chen apple and google are getting up close and personal with user data to craft memos, summarize documents and generate images. by brian x. chen openai released gpt 4o, its latest chatbot technology, in a partly finished state. it has much to prove. by brian x. chen google and samsung used to update smartphone software for only three years. that has changed. by brian x. chen

the hidden cost of convenience: why we should be concerned about big companies mining our personal photo libraries in today’s digital age, capturing and sharing moments through photos has become second nature. our smartphones, equipped with high quality cameras, allow us to document every aspect of our lives, from family gatherings and vacations to casual outings with friends. however, as we upload and store these precious memories in the cloud, we may be unknowingly giving big companies access to an intimate view of our lives. this practice of mining data from personal photo libraries raises several concerns that warrant our attention. this was even the main topic for a recent ny times article   “apple, microsoft and google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. should we trust them?” (source: ny times june 23 24   what the arrival of a.i. phones and computers means for our data) conclusion while the convenience of storing and sharing photos online is undeniable, it is crucial to remain aware of the potential risks and implications of allowing big companies to mine our personal photo libraries. privacy, relationship mapping, location tracking, data breaches, and ethical concerns are all valid reasons to be cautious about how and where we store our digital memories. as users, we must advocate for greater transparency and control over our data. by understanding the potential risks and taking steps to protect our privacy, we can continue to enjoy the benefits of digital photography without compromising our personal security and peace of mind. © 2025 tag that photo. all rights reserved. face recognition powered by applied recognition, inc. site map • terms of use • privacy policy

apple finally joined the great ai arms race this week after months of lagging behind big tech rivals like google, microsoft and meta, unveiling a series of products juiced with artificial intelligence that it has pitched as a more secure, privacy focused alternative to how its competitors process requests in the cloud. apple announced its ai vision, apple intelligence. and a suite of ai products at the worldwide ... [+] developers conference (wwdc) 2024. apple, which for years has sought to position itself as one of silicon valley’s most privacy  and security focused firms, previewed an array of ai features at its annual wwdc event on monday including voice transcription, siri upgrades, improved photo editing and integrating openai’s popular chatbot chatgpt into devices. apple said its new features   part of the company’s broader vision for ai it calls “apple intelligence”   have been designed with privacy “at the core,” which it said will be achieved by keeping as much of the computer processing needed to fulfill an ai task as possible on users’ devices, rather than shipping it off elsewhere in the cloud. many firms rely on cloud computing for their ai services, a system that delivers computer services like data processing, software and storage remotely over the internet, given the high computer processing and power demands required to fulfill many requests and the need to use this data to answer the request means it cannot be hidden from providers in the same way that encrypted messages are. by nature, data processed in the cloud is more vulnerable to access and exploitation than data processed locally on the device itself, and apple said its ai features will prioritize keeping data on users’ devices by making use of whatever resources like battery and processing power they have at their disposal. inevitably, some ai tasks will require more power than an iphone, mac or other apple device can muster, and for these apple said it has developed a new privacy preserving method of sending data to cloud servers. apple said it will only send absolutely necessary data to cloud servers, will encrypt it on the way there, and will not save or use any data aside from what is necessary to complete the ai task, adding that it will allow independent researchers access to inspect and verify the system’s security. apple’s privacy focused debut to the ai arms race has reignited a long simmering debate over data privacy in silicon valley. unlike many of its marquee competitors such as alphabet’s google, instagram parent meta and amazon, apple cares less about collecting user data as more of its profits come from hardware like ipads, iphones and macbooks. as a result, apple can afford to position itself more as a privacy focused firm, though at times it has still found itself under fire from activists. apple is now trying to capitalize on its privacy reputation when it comes to rolling out ai as well, going as far as to promise not to utilize user data for quality control or maintenance either, which is usually standard. it is clear apple plans to use privacy as a key differentiator between it and its primarily cloud using, data collecting rivals. many of these have already been attacked by digital rights groups and consumers over their use of user data and ai features, including field leaders like microsoft, chatgpt maker openai (which has gotten billions in investments from microsoft), meta, adobe and google. “you shouldn’t have to hand over all the details of your life to be warehoused and analyzed in someone’s ai cloud,” apple software engineering chief craig federighi said at the wwdc event on monday, highlighting a crucial difference between it and other companies. elon musk was so incensed at apple’s decision to partner with openai for its “apple intelligence” vision that he threatened to bar apple devices from his companies’ campuses. he branded apple’s ai tools as “creepy spyware” and claimed the connection to openai represented an “unacceptable security violation.” in posts that were later corrected by crowdsourced fact checkers on his own social media platform, x, formerly twitter, musk said it was “patently absurd” to think apple could ensure openai protected user data and alleged the company had “no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over.” musk has a history of feuding with openai, which he cofounded and later left amid alleged conflicts of interest, and particularly with fellow cofounder sam altman. he also founded and runs what could become a major competitor to openai, xai, and styled its only product, chatbot grok, as a direct rival to chatgpt. get forbes breaking news text alerts: we’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. text “alerts” to (201) 335 0739 or sign up here. ​​​ one community. many voices. create a free account to share your thoughts. our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. we want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space. in order to do so, please follow the posting rules in our site's terms of service. we've summarized some of those key rules below. simply put, keep it civil. your post will be rejected if we notice that it seems to contain: user accounts will be blocked if we notice or believe that users are engaged in: so, how can you be 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agree & join linkedin by clicking continue to join or sign in, you agree to linkedin’s user agreement, privacy policy, and cookie policy. helping companies not get hacked | cyber guy who speaks human | protecting 500+ clients since 1996. 𝗜𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗧 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗜? privacy, power, and integration are just the beginning. as apple intelligence gears up for rollout, it teams must start planning for the potential challenges ahead. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲: 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆: how will your company data be protected when leveraging apple’s private cloud compute (pcc)? understanding apple’s encryption and data retention policies will be important. 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: not all devices will support apple intelligence. ensure your fleet is up to date, particularly if you rely heavily on iphones, macs, or ipads in your operations. 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: with apple’s optional chatgpt tie in, it’ll be important to assess how this integration aligns with your organization's data governance policies. will you need to restrict or allow usage? are there granularity options, or all or none? 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 & 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: can you log activities, and will you have the tools to manage or even block certain features? apple promises control, but it teams need to be prepared for how this will be implemented. the clock is ticking, and the it landscape is about to shift. stay ahead by preparing now. dan geller https://lnkd.in/g cqaxnq to view or add a comment, sign in managing and securing apple devices in the enterprise 💻 | apple certified support professional | jamf 200/170/100 | jamf management consultant | jamf security consultant | jamf ambassador| mentor | us navy veteran ⚓️ apple admins are stressed. here’s why. (and it’s not what you might think.) a recent jumpcloud survey uncovered key challenges: 🚨 shadow it is expanding faster than it can control. 🔐 security risks are growing with every new device. 💻 endpoint management is becoming more complex. 🤖 ai tools are multiplying fast. but that’s not all. ⚡ static budgets (while costs rise) ⚡ too many tools to manage ⚡ increasing workloads with no slowdown in sight yet, despite all this stress… enterprise apple adoption? it's still expected to grow. the demand for apple in the workplace isn’t slowing down. but are it teams prepared to handle it? curious what’s the biggest challenge it teams should be focused on? does this resonate with you? feel free to drop your thoughts below. what’s been your biggest it challenge lately? ⬇️ p.s. repost this to help it admins feel seen and to help your network stay ahead. ♻️ #apple #jumpcloud #appleatwork #devicemanagement #endpointmanagement #ai #artificialintelligence #appleintelligence https://bit.ly/3pum4vd to view or add a comment, sign in ceo hivegpt (ai agents for b2b mkt) | social27 event tech | trusted by fortune 1000 customers is apple intelligence really private? elon musk says no. (here are 5 things you need to know) apple intelligence is powered by private cloud compute (pcc). a cloud intelligence system designed specifically for private ai processing. ………………………………………………………………………………………… stateless computation: pcc processes user data only for specific requests, ensuring no data is stored or accessible post processing. enforceable guarantees: apple ensures pcc's privacy protections are technically enforceable and verifiable, offering unmatched security assurances. no privileged runtime access: pcc eliminates privileged access interfaces, preventing unauthorized data access even during outages or maintenance. non targetability: pcc's design prevents attackers from targeting specific users, ensuring broad compromises are necessary to access any data. verifiable transparency: apple provides tools for security researchers to verify pcc's software and privacy claims, promoting trust through transparency. the big business opportunity: siri with app intents   developers can take advantage of predefined and pretrained app intents across a range of domains.   siri can take actions in your app and make your app’s actions more discoverable across the shortcuts app, control center, and more.   app entities, siri can understand content from your app and provide users with information from your app from anywhere in the system. #apple #privacy #b2bmarketing to view or add a comment, sign in co founder & coo @ remai   driving efficiency & growth through voice ai solutions apple’s new ai: revolutionary or risky? apple just introduced apple intelligence a feature designed to personalize user experiences across apps. but here’s the catch: it can access data from apps, including sensitive information like banking, health, and location data. that’s sparking big concerns. chip hallett, a privacy advocate, recommends disabling apple intelligence for apps managing sensitive data. why? even though apple claims data is processed within its "private cloud compute" system, experts warn about the risks of remote access. here’s what this means for you: 1️⃣ be vigilant ↳ review your app permissions regularly. ↳ restrict access to sensitive data. 2️⃣ demand accountability ↳ tech companies need stronger transparency and privacy protocols. 3️⃣ stay informed ↳ follow updates to make smarter choices about your devices and features. the big question: is apple intelligence the next big thing or a risk to your personal data? let’s talk: would you use it? drop your thoughts below. to view or add a comment, sign in conscientious ai design | cto | educator | columnist which camp are you in? the apple announcement of their #ai project #appleintelligence has helped to polarize the ai community. the technical community and apple fans love it the skeptics worry about the #openai partnership and use of data the dissenters are further concerned about privacy issues and they're all correct. let's play this out. 🍎 apple has amazing controls for their data policies. they don't share or sell your data and you can opt to turn off data collection at any time. except almost no one does, because then the apple ecosystem doesn't work. 🍎 they've created an ai engine that runs entirely on a mobile device platform which is amazing, except it may accelerate the hardware depreciation cycle. 🍎 they're launching a personal concierge to all of a person's information within the apple ecosystem, except most people enable siri and access to content even when the phone is locked, which when blended with ai could lead to extreme data breaches without a bad actor even needing to hold a device. less technically savvy people with minimal security controls will be using this new access methodology for everything from personal contacts, financial data and health to password lists. they could sit at a coffee shop and someone could potentially through voice controls via airpods paired with the phone use apple intelligence to lift data. lost or stolen phones with weak or no security with this capability enabled could be manipulated with prompt injection attacks to provide information from within the victim's phone, icloud accounts, and linked accounts. putting in the safeguards necessary to properly and thoroughly protect all of the data exposed to the ai could either reduce the effectiveness of it or make it so difficult to use that people may simply opt not to use it, or (as i've seen often) forgo the more mature security posture in favor of the convenience or trendiness of it. these are all possible outcomes. apple has a proven track record of focusing on security, privacy and user controls so there may be safeguards built in that minimize or eliminate these gaps. the still potentially valid concern is for the all in apple ecosystem users. their entire lives could soon be accessed by an ai that many people don't fully understand. that, more than the tech itself, poses the greatest risk. these are all hypotheticals, and my personal musings alone. they do not in any way reflect my company's viewpoints. to view or add a comment, sign in 🚀 we just released kandji’s 3rd annual "apple in the enterprise" report, with insights from 300+ it and security pros on apple’s expanding role in the workplace. it’s clear: apple’s reputation for security, reliability, and user preference continues to drive growth. more and more employees and it professionals prefer working with apple products. plus, with ai adoption accelerating, apple’s focus on privacy is more important than ever. get the full scoop here: https://lnkd.in/g9fjt5x7 #appleintheenterprise #itsecurity #ai #privacy #kandji to view or add a comment, sign in partner, mwl technology, llc hello, #linkedin network! 🌐 did you know that your virtual assistant might be knowing more about you than it should? yup, you heard it right! 🎙️ recent news reveals that apple has decided to settle claims alleging that siri has been collecting users' data without their consent. user information including contacts, locations, even browsing history allegedly found their way into apple's databases without an explicit "okay". 📱📍 the terms of this settlement are yet to be unveiled. this news, however, brings under spotlight the pressing concern of data privacy and prompts us to question the responsibilities of tech giants regarding this issue.🔒 apparently, our community shares a similar outlook as reflected in the comments' section of this piece. while some expressed their disappointment over apple's actions, others called for more stringent regulations and transparency from tech corporations.🔎 notably, data privacy concerns are not uncommon. do you know that a whopping 77% of american voice assistant users are skeptical about the data these virtual helpers collect? furthermore, regulators globally are upturning the heat on tech companies   setting stricter data protection rules to view or add a comment, sign in ai governance @ trace3 | digital : all possibilities live in technology: innovating with risk managed ai: strategies to advance business goals through ai governance, privacy & security i am so excited that i finally got a new phone, and upgraded from an iphone xr to the newest model, a 16 pro max. at this occasion, i was really excited to look into apple intelligence, and apple's privacy protection features. apple intelligence on the iphone 16 is designed to deliver advanced ai capabilities while maintaining user privacy by combining on device processing with cloud based computations; see: https://lnkd.in/grymtiar: >> on device processing: the iphone 16 is equipped with the a18 chip and 8gb of ram, enabling it to handle many ai tasks locally. apple has optimized smaller, specialized models to operate efficiently within the device's hardware constraints. these smaller, task specific models are fine tuned to handle things like autocorrect, predictive text, and siri requests without needing to send data to the cloud. this approach ensures that personal data can remain on the device, enhancing privacy and reducing latency for tasks like text generation and image recognition. e.g., this includes processing photos for features, which allow you to extract text or identify objects in photos entirely offline. see, e.g., apple's workshop from august 29, 2024, on privacy preserving machine learning 2024, where they highlight advancements in privacy preserving machine learning (ppml), focusing on federated learning (fl), differential privacy (dp), and secure aggregation techniques: https://lnkd.in/gddetrwk >> private cloud compute: for more complex ai tasks that exceed the device's processing capabilities, apple utilizes private cloud compute. see apple security blog post: https://lnkd.in/g3zi_d f (great article and recommended read!) the system is built on apple silicon servers. silicon servers are custom built using apple’s proprietary arm based architecture. these servers feature integrated secure enclaves, dedicated subsystems within a chip (e.g., in apple silicon), isolated from the main processor, which protect encryption keys, and trusted execution environments, ensuring only verified code can run. used in apple’s private cloud compute infrastructure, they enable secure, privacy focused processing of data, such as ai and ml tasks. importantly, user data is not stored during this process; it is used solely to fulfill specific requests. * * * i’m genuinely excited about apple’s promise to "combine the power of generative ai with personal context" and look forward to trying (and potentially quickly getting used to) the advertised features like text rewriting, summarization, and image creation. ..however, the privacy enhancing techniques above are not necessarily new so i can't wait how privacy will be applied to my personal "llm siri" for which, it seems, i'll have to wait for the iphone 19! https://lnkd.in/gvvxj4vu to view or add a comment, sign in senior show manager @ cloud & cyber security expo london | it security 🚨 apple has just weaponised "zero data retention" against ai security threats 🚨 the us tech giant has quietly dropped a security bombshell with its private cloud compute architecture. this isn’t just another privacy feature; it's a complete rethink on securing ai processing in the cloud. here’s what’s genius about apple’s approach: 🔒 encrypted processing pathways that self destruct after use 🚀 ephemeral cloud compute instances leaving zero footprint 🛡️ hybrid architecture that minimises attack surfaces by leaning on on device processing the security implications are massive. traditional cloud ai models create persistent data lakes that are prime targets for attackers. apple's "process and forget" method effectively eliminates this attack vector. for security professionals, this raises an intriguing question: could ephemeral compute become the new gold standard for securing sensitive ai workloads in enterprise? imagine if we treated all sensitive cloud processing as if it were radioactive, existing only for the milliseconds needed to compute. watch the full video here: https://lnkd.in/ed5eh6tf #cybersecurity #cloudsecurity #ai #privacy #zerotrust to view or add a comment, sign in 1,770 followers apple has officially unveiled its new ai initiative, known as “apple intelligence,” which will integrate openai’s chatgpt into iphones. to address privacy concerns, apple will also introduce a new cloud based system called private cloud compute (pcc). this system aims to protect user data by handling sensitive tasks directly on the device and using a private cloud for more complex requests. apple is calling this the new standard for privacy in ai. as new ai options become more readily available, it is increasingly critical for users to carefully consider the privacy and security implications of their choices. read more here: https://lnkd.in/emd9exxu to view or add a comment, sign in 6,426 followers create your free account or sign in to continue your search or by clicking continue to join or sign in, you agree to linkedin’s user agreement, privacy policy, and cookie policy. new to linkedin? join now or new to linkedin? join now by clicking continue to join or sign in, you agree to linkedin’s user agreement, privacy policy, and cookie policy. linkedin never miss a beat on the app don’t have the app? get it in the microsoft store.

ad free. influence free. powered by consumers. get involved issues we work on the payment for your account couldn't be processed or you've canceled your account with us. sign in we don’t recognize that sign in. your username maybe be your email address. passwords are 6 20 characters with at least one number and letter. we still don’t recognize that sign in. retrieve your username. reset your password. *required *required forgot your username or password? don’t have an account? my account save products you love, products you own and much more! other membership benefits: suggested searches cars car ratings & reviews cars 2024 top picks car buying & pricing which car brands make the best vehicles? tires, maintenance & repair car reliability guide key topics & news car news listen to the talking cars podcast home & garden bed & bath top picks from cr best mattresses lawn & garden top picks from cr best snow blowers home improvement home improvement essential best wood stains home safety & 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your device with the manufacturer to help it improve its products. but did you really understand exactly what you agreed to? i asked privacy experts, software engineers, and some of the largest technology companies to explain exactly what happens with this data (sometimes known as “diagnostic” data). and i discovered that it really can be useful when it comes to debugging and improving software. but this innocent sounding request can also open the door for your device to transmit a significant amount of anonymized information that could pose privacy risks. although many programs ask for your consent, some product improvement programs transmit a baseline level of user data even if you opt out of voluntary sharing, including microsoft’s windows operating system and office programs. apple and google android devices ask if you’ll share your data when you set up their smartphones, but a recent study found that they still share some data even if you say no. the device and software analytics data typically doesn’t include your name but could still contain sensitive information such as email details, your location (if location tracking is also turned on), or your ip address, tied together by a user id the company creates. companies especially welcome crash reports, a type of analytics data that devices assemble when something goes wrong, but these can also reveal more personal information than you might have imagined, because they may capture details about what you were doing when the software failed. “i am often surprised by how much information software helps itself to,” peter snyder, phd, senior privacy researcher and director of privacy at brave software, which makes a browser that promotes itself as protecting privacy, says about product improvement programs. “there’s been software that looks at things such as what documents do you have in your document drive, things that are not only invasive, but unrelated to the functioning of the software.” like many programs, brave’s web browser sends back some user analytics data by default. brave publishes a detailed list of what information it uploads. software manufacturers can set how widely they want their programs to scoop data from behind the scenes of your computing device in the name of improving their products. such data collection comes in addition to the personal data mining done by internet services such as google and facebook, which make money from targeting advertising to you. in the name of improving their products, some companies are rather intrusive, while others seek only very basic information. “a lot of these companies use data and have legitimate uses for the data,” says mihir kshirsagar, who leads a tech policy clinic at princeton university’s center for information technology policy. “one of them is, for example, that it’ll improve the product because crashes will tell them how to improve it. the problem is that it’s very difficult to verify that, in fact, they are using it for the purposes that they agreed to collect the data,” he continues. “how on earth would you as a consumer know if, in fact, it’s being used to improve the product, or whether it’s being used to sell you something or identify some other issue that will help the company?” daniel kahn gillmor, senior staff technologist for the american civil liberties union’s project on speech, privacy, and technology who himself helps develop free software, says data about how you use a program and problems you encounter are invaluable to computer engineers. “a detailed bug report is incredibly useful to a software developer,” he says. “what you’re seeing in the report is examples of what a user actually did in the real world, and how the software didn’t meet their needs. “some of these reports will give full memory dumps, in which case there could well be sensitive user data present there. some of it will just be the program crashed at this particular point.” user data can also prompt software engineers to eliminate or change certain features of their programs. “if there’s a feature, and you spend a thousand engineering hours on that feature, and you find later that it’s been used by less than 1 percent of your user base, and half of them had bugs in it, you might want to just rip the feature out,” kahn gillmor says. “but if you spend a thousand user engineering hours on a feature, and you find 100 percent of your user base is using it, and only 2 percent of them have had a bug report, well, now you know where to focus your energy on fixing those bugs, because everybody wants to use this feature.” steve shillingford has also long seen the utility of user data as a former employee at software company oracle, as founder of privacy company anonyome labs, and now as ceo of deepsee, which uses machine learning to help companies automate business practices. “there’s a lot of value to developers of software to get a lot of that crash data,” he says. “most of that crash data is generally anonymous, and really related to performance of the application network.” experts differ in their assessment of how much a typical consumer should worry about sharing of usage and crash data from their devices. “i actually think that most of the time, that’s fine,” says lorrie faith cranor, a professor at carnegie mellon university and former chief technologist at the federal trade commission. “especially if it’s a legitimate company, that is in fact what they’re going to do with the data. but that said, there is a small risk, because the crash report may include sensitive data that’s on your computer.” daniel kahn gillmor of the aclu worries that email details could end up in crash reports. “if i use an email program, and something goes wrong with it, maybe the contents of my email are sent back to the software developer in that bug report,” he says. “if the contents of my email are sensitive, it seems pretty problematic for that software developer to have that information.” aleecia mcdonald, phd, associate director of the privacy engineering program at carnegie mellon’s school of computer science, has similar concerns about the potential exposure of personal data. “if you want to [share], great, you’ll slightly contribute to a better and more debugged world. that’s a nice thing,” she says. “and as long as you’re not doing anything at all ever on your device that you don’t want to be public? sure.” shillingford of deepsee differentiates companies such as facebook and google, whose business models rely on harvesting user information to target advertising, and other software developers. “on the whole, folks apple, for instance they’re really trying to improve the software product, in my view, and as a result, i feel less concerned about that.” he says. “like everything in life, reputation matters.” kshirsagar at princeton agrees about the importance of reputation, which makes him cautious about sharing usage data for many apps. “if it’s sort of a dodgy company that you know very little about that’s asking for a lot of intrusive information about you, you might be suspicious, and might be justified in that suspicion,” he says. “from a consumer perspective, a large part depends on whether you trust the company with which you’re interacting.” here’s what some leading companies say about their product improvement programs. by default, microsoft monitors what it calls “required” data on how you use its windows operating system as well as its office programs including word, excel, and outlook. for office, such required data sent back to microsoft includes details about your laptop battery, camera, processor, network speed, hard drives, devices, crash data and errors, and lots more, which it details here. microsoft owned skype also collects this data. “you expect office to be secure and work properly. to meet this expectation, we collect diagnostic data as you use office and onedrive which helps us find and fix problems, identify and mitigate threats, and improve your experience,” the company explains on its website. “this data does not include your name or email address, the content of your files, or information about apps unrelated to office or onedrive.” such user data helps microsoft developers troubleshoot issues such as malfunctioning video drivers and tells software designers which features people use most, microsoft says on its website. monitoring also allows software programs to update automatically. office does not allow users to turn off the transmission of this required data. microsoft also invites office users to share even more of what it calls “optional diagnostic data,” to give the company insights such as which shapes customers insert into word documents or how fast powerpoint slides appear on the screen. microsoft’s windows operating system also shares user information by default, but customers who dig into the settings can turn off the customer experience improvement program. “the operating system itself sends tremendous amounts of metrics back to microsoft by default. and you have to dig around to figure out how to turn that off,” says the aclu’s kahn gillmor. “the amount of information that’s been collected from these feedback systems is increasingly the concern for me as a privacy advocate, from a surveillance perspective.” if you would like to see exactly what your devices are sending to microsoft, you can download the company’s diagnostic data viewer. the collection of information from your device could also give microsoft insights valuable for targeting advertising. if you turn on microsoft’s “tailored experiences” to enable personalized tips and recommendations, it also uses that information for advertising, the company says on its website. “if you choose to turn on tailored experiences, we will use your windows diagnostic data to offer you personalized tips, ads, and recommendations to enhance microsoft experiences,” the company writes. yet such use blurs the line of taking user information purely to improve the product with seeking to make extra money off a customer. “this is simultaneously not surprising, and counter to what people expect,” says cr privacy researcher bill fitzgerald. “data collected for analytics is often described as somehow separate or different than data collected for ads or tracking,” he says. “this claim has never passed the smell test. analytics data is sensitive it can be used to track people in its own right, and when it’s combined with other preexisting datasets, it can increase the accuracy and precision of tracking by companies.” when you set up a google android phone, the program offers a choice on sharing your user data. such information includes how often you use your apps, network connection data, and details about your wifi and other connections. some of the data is also shared with android developers. you can turn off the sharing under settings > google > more > usage & diagnostics. however, a 2021 paper found that both android and apple ios phones still send a surprising amount of data even when users opt out of sharing, with google sending around 20 times more data than apple. on average, apple and android phones sent data every 4.5 minutes when idle. “our data shows that the ‘essential’ data collection is extensive, and likely at odds with reasonable user expectations,” writes report author douglas leith, phd, a professor and chair of computer systems at trinity college dublin in ireland. in response to the study, google spokesman scott westover said, “this research largely outlines how smartphones work. modern cars regularly send basic data about vehicle components, their safety status and service schedules to car manufacturers, and mobile phones work in very similar ways. this report details those communications, which help ensure that ios or android software is up to date, services are working as intended, and that the phone is secure and running efficiently.” google’s chrome browser collects usage statistics and crash data by default. to turn off this feature, go to settings > you and google > sync and google services, then turn off the tab “help improve chrome’s features and performance.” while you’re there, you might want to make sure “make searches and browsing better” is turned off as well, if you want to limit data collection. “our privacy policy helps our users understand what information we collect, why we collect it, and how they can update, manage, export and delete information,” says google spokesman matt bryant. several voice assistants, including amazon’s alexa, apple’s siri, and google assistant, can send back recordings of your voice, as part of their product improvement programs. apple and google’s products require users to opt in to voice review during setup; amazon’s alexa has the process enabled by default. details of these voice monitoring programs caused some controversy for all three companies back in 2019, when a series of reports exposed how human agents listened to some snippets of consumer recordings. apple and google have since made their programs opt in, while amazon still has the program on by default. “what they didn’t tell consumers was that periodically to assess if the ai was translating your words correctly, they would have humans listening in to those conversations,” says kshirsagar of princeton university’s center for information technology policy. “do you trust their employees there? do you trust their subcontractors who might be responsible for looking at this? there’s a whole range of issues that come up.” amazon says such monitoring improves the device’s accuracy in interpreting what people say, allowing it to distinguish between similar sounding words such as austin and boston. “training alexa with a diversity of voice recordings helps alexa better understand customer requests and provide more accurate and personalized responses,” says spokeswoman lauren raemhild. “to help improve alexa, we manually review and annotate a small fraction of 1 percent of alexa requests. access to human review tools is highly controlled and only granted to a limited number of employees who require them to improve the service.” she added that these annotations don’t include information that could identify users, and customers can opt out of human review of their voice recordings, a process amazon describes on this page. the options include saying: “alexa, turn off human review of my voice recordings.” cr’s "how to set up a smart speaker for privacy" details the privacy options for alexa, apple’s siri, and google assistant. a graphics program such as photoshop may analyze your photos to judge how well its features work. adobe, the maker of photoshop and graphics and video software, by default uses machine learning on images processed in its cloud. “adobe’s automated systems analyze aggregated user images (e.g., image segmentation, contrast analysis, etc.) to improve adobe’s products, but we do not collect data about specific users,” says andrew savage, who leads the legal team for adobe’s digital media business. the company explains how its machine learning works here. users can opt out by signing on to their adobe account, finding the “machine learning” section and disabling “allow my content to be analyzed by adobe using machine learning techniques.” photoshop users can also opt in to a program allowing adobe researchers to review low resolution copies of users’ photos. adobe says such information helps them fine tune features such as automatically selecting the main subject of a photo or filling in an area of a photo you want to replace. “once a user has opted in, adobe researchers may review the user’s photoshop images that are uploaded to adobe servers,” savage says. “please note that adobe does not have access to images on a user’s computer.” adobe also automatically uploads more general information about your device and its interactions with adobe programs and services. users can opt out of such data gathering. apple, which has marketed itself as a more privacy friendly company in recent years, offers an opt in model to share analytics information, although it takes some effort across different company web pages to understand your options. the choices are apparently confusing not only to users. when i called apple tech support to ask whether the company automatically collected user analytics data from the ios operating system, icloud, and iphone without user consent, the agent initially seemed confused but then said yes. but apple web pages appear to suggest usage information is shared only after you opt in when setting up your devices. “help apple improve its products by allowing analytics of usage data from your iphone,” the phone asks as you set up the device (the “share with apple” button is also highlighted). “you can change your decision later in settings.” to check your iphone settings go to settings > privacy > analytics & improvements. “iphone analytics may include details about hardware and operating system specifications, performance statistics, and data about how you use your devices and applications,” the company says on its website, adding that location data may also be sent if “location services” is also on. apple also separately asks if users wish to share health records and icloud analytics with apple, as well as crash and usage data with third party app developers. for its ios operating system, apple writes: “apple asks customers to help improve the ios by occasionally providing analytics, diagnostic, and usage information. apple collects this information anonymously,” it says. such information helps it come up with better predictive suggestions while you are typing, or emoji suggestions. on macos devices, you can adjust your sharing settings in system preferences under security & privacy > privacy > analytics & improvements. for apple’s icloud online storage service, which works across devices, the company writes: “if you give your explicit consent to share icloud analytics, apple can improve siri and other intelligent features by analyzing how you use icloud data from your account, such as text snippets from email messages.” cr reached out to apple for comment on their device analytics data collection and sharing, and an apple spokesperson responded: “when users set up an apple device, they are asked whether they would like to share app analytics with developers and partners to help improve their apps. if a user opts in to sharing this data, the device will only provide analytics information and statistics in aggregate, or in a form that does not personally identify the user.” trinity college dublin professor leith’s paper found, however, that apple shares some data even from users who have not opted in. “a number of the pre installed apps/services are also observed to make network connections, despite never having been opened or used. in particular, on ios these include siri, safari, and icloud,” leith writes, adding that google programs also act similarly. “the high frequency of network connections made by both ios and google android (on average every 4.5 minutes) therefore potentially allow tracking by apple and google of device location over time.” in response to the findings in leith’s report, the apple spokesperson told cr “apple devices may send data to apple servers for reasons that are necessary for the device to function such as registering a new phone on the carrier’s network. even in these cases apple devices and software minimize the data shared with apple, and where possible, do not associate data sent with an apple id or any other form of identity.” many companies share anonymized usage data with outside partners as well. mozilla’s firefox browser’s privacy policy describes how it shares data under a subheading titled “improve performance and stability for users everywhere.” it says: “firefox sends data about your interactions with firefox to us (such as number of open tabs and windows; number of web pages visited; number and type of installed firefox add ons; and session length) and firefox features offered by mozilla or our partners (such as interaction with firefox search features and search partner referrals).” this data collection is turned on by default. an untrained eye might not appreciate how much sharing such a policy allows, but after reading it, carnegie mellon’s mcdonald, who previously served as a senior privacy researcher at mozilla, expressed concern about sharing anonymized internet search data with “search partners.” “just having search terms from a given person can very quickly become personally identifiable information,” she says. “pretty privacy invasive.” firefox users can turn off the sharing of performance data by going to settings > privacy & security > firefox data collection and use, and then unclick “allow firefox to send technical and interaction data to mozilla.” while there, you can also turn off “allow firefox to install and run studies.” firefox’s crash reports which you can choose to share whenever the software crashes also contain what the company describes as sensitive data that could identify you. “we strictly limit access to those crash dumps to a small number of employees who are charged with investigating crashes and data collected are unconditionally deleted after six months,” says vicky chin, mozilla’s senior director of desktop engineering. adam tanner adam tanner is a consumer reports contributing editor. he is also the author of “our bodies, our data: how companies make billions selling our medical records” and an associate at harvard's institute for quantitative social science. we respect your privacy. all email addresses you provide will be used just for sending this story. trending in privacy facebook privacy settings you should change right now how to turn off smart tv snooping features google privacy settings you should change right now how to wipe a computer clean of personal 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artificial intelligence supported by tech fix apple, microsoft and google need more access to our data as they promote new phones and personal computers that are powered by artificial intelligence. should we trust them? by brian x. chen brian x. chen is the author of tech fix, a weekly column about the societal implications of the tech we use. apple, microsoft and google are heralding a new era of what they describe as artificially intelligent smartphones and computers. the devices, they say, will automate tasks like editing photos and wishing a friend a happy birthday. but to make that work, these companies need something from you: more data. in this new paradigm, your windows computer will take a screenshot of everything you do every few seconds. an iphone will stitch together information across many apps you use. and an android phone can listen to a call in real time to alert you to a scam. is this information you are willing to share? this change has significant implications for our privacy. to provide the new bespoke services, the companies and their devices need more persistent, intimate access to our data than before. in the past, the way we used apps and pulled up files and photos on phones and computers was relatively siloed. a.i. needs an overview to connect the dots between what we do across apps, websites and communications, security experts say. “do i feel safe giving this information to this company?” cliff steinhauer, a director at the national cybersecurity alliance, a nonprofit focusing on cybersecurity, said about the companies’ a.i. strategies. all of this is happening because openai’s chatgpt upended the tech industry nearly two years ago. apple, google, microsoft and others have since overhauled their product strategies, investing billions in new services under the umbrella term of a.i. they are convinced this new type of computing interface   one that is constantly studying what you are doing to offer assistance   will become indispensable. the biggest potential security risk with this change stems from a subtle shift happening in the way our new devices work, experts say. because a.i. can automate complex actions   like scrubbing unwanted objects from a photo   it sometimes requires more computational power than our phones can handle.