Apple built a trillion-dollar brand on the promise that your data stays private. Now, three weeks before the company unveils its biggest Siri overhaul ever, new reporting is questioning whether that promise still holds.
Gizmodo published a story this morning following Bloomberg's Mark Gurman report from yesterday that raises concerns about where user data will be stored when the new Google-powered Siri launches.
The timing puts Apple in an uncomfortable position as the company settled a $250 million class action lawsuit two weeks ago over Siri features it advertised with the iPhone 16 but never delivered, and now faces questions about whether its privacy protections are weakening just as it prepares to unveil the upgrade at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8.
The privacy concerns center on Apple's January 12 partnership with Google to use Gemini AI models for the rebuilt Siri. While Apple said at the time that Google's technology provides the most capable foundation for Apple Foundation Models, the company has not clearly explained where conversations with the chatbot-style Siri will actually be stored or whether Google's cloud infrastructure will handle some of the processing.
Apple said the new Siri will use Private Cloud Compute, but has not specified whether it will rely on the same chips, data centers, and security measures as current Siri features, according to Bloomberg. Gizmodo said the report suggest Apple has been a little “sheepish" about providing these details ahead of WWDC.
Apple's Privacy Plan: Auto-Deleting Chats and Ad-Free Experience
Bloomberg reports Apple plans to make privacy the centerpiece of its June 8 presentation by highlighting an auto-delete feature for Siri conversations. Users will be able to choose whether to keep conversations for 30 days, one year, or forever, matching options already available in the Messages app.
Apple will also emphasize that it places tighter restrictions on how Siri's memory works compared to competitors, including limits on what information can persist and how long it can be retained. The company plans to promote that its AI experience remains ad-free, unlike ChatGPT, which recently began showing sponsored content to users.
The auto-delete feature addresses one privacy concern but does not answer the central question raised in today's reporting: where does the conversation data live before it gets deleted?
New Siri Launches as Beta After Two-Year Delay
Apple first showed the upgraded Siri at WWDC 2024 and promoted it in advertisements when the iPhone 16 launched in September 2024. The company delayed those features in March 2025 and pulled its advertising campaigns, though the ads had already run for several months.
The new Siri will now arrive with iOS 27, which will be previewed at WWDC on June 8 and released to the public in the fall of 2026. Bloomberg reports that internal test versions of iOS 27 include a beta label for the new Siri, along with a toggle that allows users to revert to the old version.
After a two-year delay, the beta label suggests Apple remains uncertain about the upgraded assistant's readiness. The $250 million settlement announced on May 5 resolved claims that Apple misled customers about AI features that were advertised as imminent but have yet to materialize.
Damilare Odedina
