Does Siri record your conversations? What Apple keeps, and for how long

The Morse teamPublished October 31, 202611 min read

As of October 2026, Siri doesn't record your conversations for Apple to keep unless you opt in. Apple's Siri privacy notice, dated October 30, 2026, says "your audio data is not stored by Apple unless you opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation or Improve Siri & Apple Intelligence" (Apple). Siri still sends many requests to Apple, which can keep data about each request for up to two years under a random identifier, and stores the searches you make through Siri to improve Search. Siri listens only for "Siri" or "Hey Siri" when that option is on. In 2024, Apple agreed to pay $95 million to settle claims that Siri captured private conversations after waking by mistake, claims Apple denies.

We read Apple's Siri, Dictation & Privacy notice, its Improve Siri and Dictation, Improve Siri & Apple Intelligence, and Search notices (all dated October 30, 2026), its ChatGPT Extension notice, its privacy features page, its iOS 27 iPhone User Guide pages on Siri, and its 2019 and 2025 newsroom statements on October 31, 2026. For the lawsuit, we read the court-authorized notice and the settlement agreement filed in Lopez v. Apple. Apple deserves credit here. It stopped keeping Siri audio by default in 2019, lets only its own employees review audio, and ties Siri data to a rotating identifier instead of your Apple Account.

What Siri keeps, setting by setting

Does Siri listen to your conversations all the time?

No, by Apple's account. Apple's iOS 27 guide says that depending on your choice, iPhone "listens for 'Siri,' 'Hey Siri,' or both to activate Siri" (Apple). To stop that, open Settings, tap Siri, tap Requests, and tap Off. Apple says that then "iPhone doesn't listen for 'Siri' or 'Hey Siri' to activate Siri." You can still start Siri with Press Side Button for Siri or Type to Siri on the same screen. Apple's guide also suggests placing your iPhone face down to keep it from responding when you don't want it to.

Apple's January 2025 statement says that on capable devices, "the audio of user requests is processed entirely on device using the Neural Engine, unless a user chooses to share it with Apple" (Apple, January 8, 2025). The October 30, 2026 notice says your Siri and Keyboard settings show whether what you say is processed on the device, and that "otherwise, the things you say are sent to and processed by Apple" (Apple).

Siri can still wake by mistake. The class action Apple settled alleged that people's private conversations were "obtained by Apple and/or shared with third parties as a result of an unintended Siri activation," which Apple denies (settlement notice).

What does Siri send to Apple when you use it?

More than your words, even with audio storage off. Apple's notice says "Siri may also send information like your audio, Siri setup, contacts, and location to Apple to process your request" (Apple). The contextual data it lists includes contact names, nicknames, and relationships "(for example, 'my dad')," the names of apps on your device, and the names of people in Photos. If Location Services is on for Siri, the approximate location of your device at the time of each request is stored with the request data.

Apple also stores the searches you make through Siri. It says that when you ask Siri to play an album or look something up, "the request will also be stored by Apple and used to improve Search, Siri, and related features" (Apple). Apple's Search notice says those queries may be used "to fine-tune Search models," and that Apple may send "a limited, randomly sampled set of search queries to search tools" to evaluate Search (Apple). To stop it, open Settings, tap Search, and turn off Help Apple Improve Search, a switch separate from Improve Siri.

With Siri AI, the new Siri in beta in iOS 27, a request "may be processed on your device or sent to Private Cloud Compute," which Apple says "does not retain your data" (Apple). Without Siri AI, Apple says a request is "processed on-device whenever possible."

Siri sends nothing to ChatGPT unless you turn on the ChatGPT extension, which Apple says "is off by default" (Apple). Once you're signed in to ChatGPT, Apple says "OpenAI may log your request, attachments, and session history," and with Improve Siri on, Apple may keep the audio and transcript of those requests too (Apple). The only Google service Apple's Siri notice names is Google Search, which Siri in Camera uses when you tap the search button (Apple). Our page on whether Apple Intelligence is private covers ChatGPT, Gemini, and Private Cloud Compute in depth.

How long does Apple keep Siri data?

Up to two years. Apple's notice says it "may retain and use this data for up to two years to develop and improve Siri, Dictation, Search, and limited other language processing functionality" (Apple). If you opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation, Apple says the data it collects "may be retained and used for up to two years," and "the small subset of interactions that has been reviewed may be kept beyond two years" (Apple).

The identifier is shorter-lived than it used to be. In 2019, Apple said that "after six months, the device's data is disassociated from the random identifier" (Apple, August 28, 2019). Apple's 2026 notices say the identifier "rotates multiple times per hour" (Apple). With Improve Siri & Apple Intelligence on, Apple says it "may connect multiple random identifiers associated with a conversation over time if you reengage with that conversation" (Apple).

Does Apple listen to Siri recordings?

Only recordings from people who opt in, and only Apple employees. Apple says "a subset of this data may be reviewed by graders, with audio review being conducted only by Apple employees" (Apple). A reviewer "may access additional contextual data directly relevant to the request, such as names of your contacts or apps installed on your devices," according to the same notice.

That rule dates from 2019. After reports of "people listening to audio Siri recordings," Apple wrote that it "immediately suspended human grading of Siri requests" (Apple, August 28, 2019). Apple said grading had covered "less than 0.2 percent" of requests. It promised to stop retaining audio by default, to make audio review opt-in, to let only Apple employees listen, and to "delete any recording which is determined to be an inadvertent trigger of Siri."

To check your choice, open Settings, tap Privacy & Security, then Analytics & Improvements, and look for Improve Siri & Dictation or Improve Siri & Apple Intelligence (Apple). Apple says the choice you made when you set up your iPhone or iPad also applies to any HomePod, Apple Watch, or HomeKit accessory you set up with it. The Apple Intelligence version also lets that data train Apple's foundation models, which our Apple Intelligence page covers.

How do you delete your Siri history?

That depends on which history you mean, and Apple changed its own instructions on October 30, 2026.

• Siri app conversations. In the Siri app, touch and hold a conversation, tap Delete, then Delete again. To clear several, tap the options button, tap Select, choose them, and tap the trash button (Apple). To delete them automatically, open Settings, tap Siri, then Keep Conversations. Apple says "if you choose 30 days or 1 year, older conversations are permanently deleted."
• Transcripts on your device. Apple's October 30, 2026 notice says to go to Settings, then Siri, and tap Turn Off Siri (Apple). Turning off both Siri and Dictation deletes the transcripts "stored on your device and used to personalize your experience."
• Data on Apple's servers. Apple's privacy page says turning off Siri and Dictation also deletes "your Siri data associated with the Siri identifier" (Apple). The same page warns that "requests more than six months old and the small sample of requests that have been reviewed may not be deleted, as they are no longer associated with the random identifier."

Many guides still send you to Siri & Dictation History and its Delete Siri & Dictation History button. That was the step in Apple's February 11, 2026 notice, which said the button deletes transcripts "stored on your device" (Apple, archived June 2, 2026). The October 30, 2026 version no longer mentions it. Turning off Help Apple Improve Search stops new searches being stored, but none of Apple's notices we read says it deletes searches already stored.

What was the $95 million Siri settlement?

A class action settlement in Lopez et al. v. Apple Inc., No. 4:19-cv-04577, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, before Judge Jeffrey S. White (settlement notice).

What was alleged. The plaintiffs alleged that private communications were captured by unintended Siri activations and obtained by Apple or shared with third parties. The notice says "Apple denies all of the allegations made in the lawsuit," and that "the Court did not decide in favor of the Plaintiffs or Apple."

Who was covered. People in the United States who owned or bought a Siri device, including an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac, HomePod, iPod touch, or Apple TV, and had an unintended Siri activation during a private conversation between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024. Each could claim for up to five devices, at up to $20 per device.

Where it stands. Class counsel says Judge White granted final approval on October 16, 2025 (Lowey Dannenberg).

What Apple agreed to do. The settlement agreement, filed December 31, 2024, says that "by six months after the Effective Date, Apple will confirm permanent deletion of individual Siri audio recordings collected by Apple prior to October 2019" (settlement agreement). Apple also agreed to publish a webpage explaining how to opt in to Improve Siri and what it stores from people who do. As of October 31, 2026, we found no public Apple statement confirming that deletion. This isn't legal advice.

Is Siri under investigation in France?

A complaint is open there. A question to France's National Assembly says the Ligue des droits de l'Homme filed a complaint with the Paris prosecutor on February 13, 2025 over "la collecte massive d'enregistrements" by Siri, for invasion of privacy, unlawful processing of personal data, and deceptive commercial practice (Assemblée nationale). The question says the complaint rests on information from a former employee turned whistleblower. The government's answer, published February 3, 2026, calls it "une affaire en cours" and declines to comment. We found no public statement from the Paris prosecutor's office on the case.

How Siri's recording rules changed

How Morse keeps your questions off an assistant's servers

Every setting above exists because what you ask Siri leaves your device, and Apple's notices decide what stays on its servers and for how long. That means up to two years of request data, your searches, and, if you opted in, your audio, and Apple's own privacy page says some of it can't be deleted. Morse is a web app at trymorse.ai where you type to over 30 models, open and closed, in one account. Your chat history is stored only in your browser, encrypted, and our servers don't keep your messages or log what you write. There's no improvement program to opt out of, because Morse doesn't train AI on your content.

• Private, for the everyday questions you'd otherwise ask Siri. It's the mode a new chat opens in. You get open-weight models like DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM, plus xAI's Grok. Morse has zero data retention agreements with its inference, search, and other providers, so they keep nothing, and where a provider confirms zero retention on each reply, Morse checks and refuses any reply without it.
• E2EE, for the questions you'd least want on anyone's server. Before a word leaves your device, your browser checks the secure enclave's hardware attestation and seals the message so only that enclave can open it. Our servers pass along ciphertext they can't read. The enclaves are run by third-party providers, not by Morse, and the guarantee depends on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed. E2EE chats come with Pro, $19 a month.
• Anonymous, for GPT, Claude, or Gemini without your account. Morse's proxy removes your account, email, and IP address, then sends the message under Morse's own account. The provider sees the text without knowing it's you, and may keep it for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy, so leave out names and addresses.

Whatever the mode, signing out locks your history, and opening it again needs two keys, one kept on your device and one our server hands over when you sign in. Morse doesn't sell your data or show ads (Morse privacy policy). Because we don't store chats, we usually have very little to give authorities. Clearing your browser removes the chats for good, and we can't bring them back, so save a copy of anything you need. For what other apps gather, see what data AI chatbots collect.

Which Siri settings should you change?

• To stop the wake word: Settings, Siri, Requests, then Off. Press the side button when you want Siri.
• To keep your audio off Apple's servers: leave Improve Siri & Dictation or Improve Siri & Apple Intelligence off under Analytics & Improvements.
• To stop Siri searches being stored: turn off Help Apple Improve Search under Settings, then Search.
• To limit the Siri app's history: set Keep Conversations to 30 days.
• For anything you'd rather no company kept: type it into a Morse chat in Private, where the hosts agreed to keep nothing, or in E2EE, where only a verified enclave reads it. Either way, the history stays in your browser.

Try a chat on the Morse home page without an account, or start free with no card.