IBM Blocks Employee Access to Apple's Siri

Siri can help TV stars , movie stars , and mere mortals surf the Web. But is Apple's voice assistant also stealing corporate secrets?

Concerned about Siri's data storage capabilities, IBM has decided to block access to the service on iPhones that its employees are using for work purposes.

In an interview with MIT's Technology Review, IBM's chief information officer, Jeanette Horan, says that most cloud-based services, as well as Siri, are blocked due to security concerns.

"We're just extraordinarily conservative," Horan told Technology Review. "It's the nature of our business."

IBM did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

Basically, IBM is concerned that Siri is storing user queries. If IBM employees use the voice assistant to search for things related to upcoming projects, could Apple get a glimpse into what IBM has up its sleeve?

According to Apple's software license agreement, "When you use Siri or Dictation, the things you say will be recorded and sent to Apple in order to convert what you say into text and, for Siri, to also process your requests."

The iPhone 4S also sends Apple information like first name and nickname, details about those in your contact list, and song names in your music collection, though "it is not linked to other data that Apple may have from your use of other Apple services."

"By using Siri or Dictation, you agree and consent to Apple's and its subsidiaries' and agents' transmission, collection, maintenance, processing, and use of this information, including your voice input and User Data, to provide and improve Siri, Dictation, and other Apple products and services," Apple said.

Using Siri for competitive advantages seems like a long shot, but IBM is not taking any chances. In addition to Siri, the company also bans file-transfer services like Dropbox and iCloud. IBM employees instead use an in-house service known as MyMobileHub.

Apple still describes Siri as a beta service. But the sometimes lackluster responses received from this robot assistant from those who think Apple's advertising campaign for Siri overestimated her capabilities. Earlier this month, , countering that the plaintiffs' claims are vague, incomplete, and "highly individualized."

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