Did Apple’s Siri Collect Personal Data Without Consent?

La Ligue des droits de l'Homme Files Complaint, Alleging “Apple Recorded Conversations Without Consent”
Apple Denies Allegations... “Privacy Policy Strengthened This Year”
French Judicial Authorities Launch Full-Scale Investigation

French judicial authorities have launched a full-scale investigation into allegations that Apple’s artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistant, Siri, collected and analyzed users’ voice data without their consent.

On October 7, Yonhap News cited reports from Bloomberg and other foreign media, stating that French prosecutors assigned the case to the police cybercrime unit (OCLCTIC) after receiving a complaint from the human rights organization La Ligue des droits de l'Homme.

The core of this investigation is to determine how Apple collected and used Siri users’ voice data, and whether these actions were carried out without prior consent. Apple acknowledged that it may collect some data to improve Siri’s quality but insisted, “This is only possible when the user has explicitly opted in.”

Apple logo. Pixabay

La Ligue des droits de l'Homme officially filed a complaint with French authorities, claiming that Apple recorded, collected, and analyzed Siri conversations without user consent. The organization based its complaint on whistleblower testimony from Thomas le Bonniec, a former employee of an Apple subcontractor from Ireland. Le Bonniec previously revealed that “Apple analyzed user voice data, including private conversations and sensitive content.”

Apple denied the allegations, stating, “Siri’s privacy policy was strengthened twice, in 2019 and again in 2025.”

Experts believe this investigation could be directly linked to potential violations of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). France has maintained a tough regulatory stance against major U.S. tech companies, including imposing a digital tax and conducting antitrust investigations. Analysts see this case as a continuation of that approach.

Bloomberg reported, “France is one of the strictest countries in Europe regarding personal data protection,” and noted that “depending on the outcome of this investigation, the case could expand into criminal proceedings.”

Previously, in January of this year, Apple issued an official statement saying, “Unless users explicitly agree to participate in the Siri improvement program, their voice conversations are not stored, and any recorded data is used only in a limited way for quality enhancement purposes.”

This came after news broke that Apple had agreed to pay $95 million (about 133.7 billion won) to consumers in a U.S. class action lawsuit alleging that the company secretly collected personal information through Siri. At the time, Apple emphasized that the settlement did not constitute an admission of the allegations.