Dictation and transcription
Apple Dictation privacy rating
Speech-to-text feature built into macOS, iOS and iPadOS that types dictated text in any app. Supported languages are processed on the device; others are sent to Apple servers.
Summary
Apple Dictation scores 47 out of 100 (grade D) on the dictation and transcription criteria. It meets 2 of 6 criteria: no ads or data sales and no training on recordings. It partly meets no trackers or telemetry and runs on the device. It does not meet open source and independent audit. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act.
Score 47 out of 100. How scoring works
Criteria
- No
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Partial
No trackers or telemetry Weight 3 of 3
Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?
No third-party trackers, but Apple collects request data such as device configuration and performance statistics by default, under a rotating random identifier.
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Yes
No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3
Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?
No ads in Dictation; Apple states dictation data is not used to build marketing profiles and is never sold.
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No
Independent audit Weight 2 of 3
Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?
No independent audit is published.
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Partial
Runs on the device Weight 3 of 3
Is speech converted to text on the device, without sending audio to a server?
Supported languages and devices process dictation on the device; otherwise audio is sent to Apple servers.
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Yes
No training on recordings Weight 2 of 3
Are recordings and transcripts kept out of model training by default?
Dictated audio and text are stored and used to improve Apple models only if the user opts in to Improve Siri and Dictation.