Apple Faces Probe in France Over Voice Recordings Made by Siri

Apple faces an investigation in France over the use of voice recordings made with its assistant Siri.

The probe has been referred to the Office for Combating Cybercrime, the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Monday.

An Apple spokesperson referred to a blog post the company published in January about its use of voice recordings, and declined to comment further.

Politico earlier reported the investigation.

The investigation concerns Apple’s collection of user recordings through Siri, the digital assistant available on most of its devices. Apple can record and retain audio interactions through Siri to help improve its services, a feature the company says is opt-in. Some of that data can be retained for up to two years and reviewed by “graders”, or subcontractors, according to Apple.

France has taken a strict approach to the biggest US tech companies, launching investigations over antitrust concerns, and launching a tax on digital services. US President Donald Trump has called such levies discriminatory and warned that the US could respond with tariffs.

The Apple probe follows a complaint filed in France earlier this year by the Ligue des droits de l’Homme, a human rights organization. That complaint relied on testimony from Thomas le Bonniec, a former Apple subcontractor in Ireland who has publicly spoken out about analyzing sensitive user recordings, including from cancer patients.

Apple said it “does not retain audio recordings of Siri interactions unless users explicitly opt in to help improve Siri, and even then, the recordings are used solely for that purpose,” in its January blog post.