Is there a settings combination on current Apple operating systems (macOS 13 Ventura, iOS 16.1) that prevents Siri and Dictation from sending my contacts to an Apple server?
Apple's web page Siri Suggestions, Search & Privacy currently says
To stop apps from contributing information to personalize Siri, go to Settings > Siri & Search and tap the app name, then tap to turn off Learn from this App.
The popup Ask Siri, Dictation & Privacy About Siri & Privacy that appears on buttons like Ask Siri & Privacy... or About Dictation & Privacy... on macOS 13.0 Ventura says
When you use Siri and Dictation, your device will send other Siri Data, such as:
- Contact names, nicknames, and relationships (for example, “my dad”), if you set them up in your contacts
These statements are contradictory. As per the web page, switching both Show Siri Suggestions for contacts and Learn from this application for Contacts.app should be enough to prevent Siri and Dictation from accessing my contacts. Yet, per the popup it does send them anyway.
The web page also states that any information sent to Apple does not identify you, and is associated with a 15-minute random, rotating device-generated identifier. Unfortunately, that's insufficient if it includes all my contacts. Any hacker, government agency or Apple and its subsidiaries and agents who does get access to the full list of people that I know may easily deduct who I am and abuse that information.
Apple reformulates these statements almost every year and claims that Siri is designed to protect your information and enable you to choose what you share. Yet this this contradiction remains. Similar questions have been asked here before, but their answers are speculative or impractical. Does anybody know how to configure Siri and Dictation to avoid sending contacts to Apple?
