Watch out: Apple timepiece can grab snippets of conversation without both speakers' consent
Apple's Watch Series 12 Live Rewind and Siri Recap transcribe nearby conversations without bystander consent, drawing EFF criticism over all-party-consent laws.
Apple Watch Series 12's Audio Intelligence features on the S11 chip include Live Rewind, which transcribes the last 15 seconds of a conversation after a Digital Crown double-press, processing audio in a Secure Exclave and routing it to a nearby iPhone. Siri Recap generates AI summaries of daily conversations without retaining raw audio or attributing speakers. Apple says an audible chime and visual cue alert bystanders, but privacy advocates including the EFF note that 11 US states require all-party consent for recording and that bystanders have no practical way to opt in or decline.
- Live Rewind transcribes the last 15 seconds of nearby conversation via a Digital Crown double-press.
- Audio is processed in a Secure Exclave on the S11 chip, routed to the iPhone, then discarded.
- Siri Recap produces daily AI summaries without retaining raw audio or attributing speakers.
- 11 US states require all-party consent for recording; bystanders cannot meaningfully consent.
- EFF urges users to consider bystanders' conversational privacy before using the feature.
- Vendors
- Apple
- Organizations
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Countries
- US
From the original article
3 min read at theregister.comWith the release of Apple Watch Series 12, Apple has decided that it's ok to capture people's conversations without their consent. The latest Apple Watch comes with Audio Intelligence, a set of AI audio processing capabilities tuned for the company's S11 chip. Its features include: Sound Recognition, Music Recognition with Shazam, Live Rewind, and Siri Recap.
By Thomas Claburn · theregister.com
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