Apple says it's taking privacy concerns seriously with its new transcription feature for Watch Series 12.
Apple
Apple Watch, as it turns out, is a fabulous piece of spy equipment. This is by Apple's own admission and it's at the heart of the company's new Audio Intelligence feature for Apple Watch Series 12, powered by the S11 chip. Using the Watch's built-in microphone, Audio Intelligence constantly gathers aural information around the wearer, allowing them to rewind real-life scenarios, read transcriptions of conversations and get alerted to critical sounds like an alarm or a crying baby.
"Since Apple Watch is always on a user's wrist, it is the perfect device to help users stay alert to important sounds and stay present and engaged in conversations throughout the day," Apple said in its Series 12 announcement post. "With the built-in microphone, the power of the S11 chip, the latest Apple Intelligence models on iPhone, and Private Cloud Compute, Apple Watch Series 12 offers a brand-new class of Apple Intelligence features."
Audio Intelligence includes sound recognition, Live Rewind, Siri Recap and Shazam. Sound recognition notifies users of important noises like sirens, alarms, doorbells or cries, and it works even when a user's iPhone isn't nearby. Live Rewind provides a transcription of the last 15 seconds of conversation on the Watch face, activated by double-pressing the Digital Crown. Siri Recap generates summaries of conversations and saves them to the new Siri app, but this function has to be manually turned on first. Shazam does exactly what you'd expect: detect music and then display the song title and artist name in a widget on your wrist.
Apple makes it clear that it's considered the privacy implications of Audio Intelligence, promising that the feature doesn't create or store audio recordings. Apple also says the raw audio used to generate transcriptions and summaries is inaccessible by the OS, any apps, the user and Apple itself.
"This is because the S11 chip on Apple Watch Series 12 includes Secure Exclave, a dedicated hardware-isolated compartment that processes audio in complete isolation from the rest of the system, then immediately deletes it," Apple said.
Plus, users are able to opt out of each Audio Intelligence feature, and things like Siri Recap have to be actively switched on and off. Live Rewind plays a chime sound when it's activated, even if the Apple Watch is on silent, complete with a microphone indicator and full-screen animation on the display. Audio Intelligence doesn't identify or attribute speakers, and Siri Recap has built-in safeguards against collecting sensitive information like finances or personal identification numbers. Siri Recap does not create a transcript, only a high-level summary of conversations, Apple emphasizes. The company is offering an 11-page breakdown of Audio Intelligence privacy features to head off concerns.
With Audio Intelligence, Apple is expanding the passive surveillance state that we're steadily constructing around us in the form of individually carried GPS trackers, police-compliant doorbell cameras, always-on smart earbuds and fashionable recording devices. However, Audio Intelligence is also poised to be another useful tool for people living with hearing loss or other disabilities, and it's wonderful to see the accessibility space continue to evolve. It's like the song says: You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the Apple Watch Series 12 with Audio Intelligence.
The Apple Watch Series 12, with Audio Intelligence, starts at $399 and it'll be available September 18.
