With the Homepod mini being so affordable and the new HomePod earning rave reviews, HomeKit has started to grow in popularity. Sure, its catalog isn’t as robust as Amazon Alexa or Google Home, but there’s no denying the allure of a high-end Apple-powered smart home. And while HomeKit is an incredibly secure platform, it’s not perfect.
Whenever you give Siri a command or ask her a question, details of the request are sent to Apple. While Apple does its best to hide unique information about you, it still collects contact information, music preferences, smart home usage statistics, and more.
Apple goes so far as to delete the data it collects from you after six months, and there are settings you can disable (or adjust) to reduce the amount of personal data Apple has access to. Here’s a look at six HomeKit settings you should disable or adjust as soon as possible.
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Disable the “Hey Siri” trigger word.
This setting is probably the first one you’ll want to turn off on your HomePods, especially if you usually wear your iPhone or Apple Watch. If you disable this, you have to tap the top of the HomePod to ask Siri a question. This setting also prevents Siri from constantly listening, even if Apple says it only listens for trigger words.
To change the “Hey Siri” behavior, first go to settings then yes Siri & Search. After that, tap to turn it off Listen to ‘Hey Siri and Press the home or side button for Siri.
Enable confirmation rings
This setting will ensure that the ringtone (or whatever noise you choose) plays when Siri is actively listening for a prompt. It stands to reason that you’ll want to know when Siri is actively listening, especially if you didn’t initiate it.
To make this change, you must first go to the Home app and then select the specific HomePod by tapping and holding on the specific device. Scroll down to the bottom of the list, then tap Turn on the sound when using Siri.
Turn off listening history
With this setting, you can prevent Siri from accessing information from Apple Music and Podcasts. Apple uses this information to learn more about what you like and listen to for music suggestions.
To turn off listening history from media apps, go to the Home app and then tap Home settings. From there, tap on the user and then select Update your listening history. After that, you can turn off listening history for each HomePod or other accessory.
Turn off location services
Although you won’t be moving your Homepod from place to place, it will know the locations you’ve taken your iPhone and other devices to. It can also find out which addresses you consider home, work, and other saved locations. Removing these locations from your devices will prevent others from finding them.
To turn off services, open settings and go to Privacy category. Then choose Location Services, Siri and Dictation, and switch it to Never.
Clear your stored Siri history
You can delete your Siri request and dictation history. If you don’t want Apple to keep it for those six months, a few quick taps will delete all that information.
To clear Siri history, open settings app and go to Siri & Search. Select from there Siri and discovery history, then Delete Siri and dictation history.
Turn off app integration
If you still want to use some apps with Siri requests or dictation, you can customize which app Siri touches. This setting will only allow you to use Siri with apps that need it.
To customize which apps can integrate with Siri, go to your settings application Go to Siri & Search category and select the specific app you want to change Siri’s behavior with. Then select or deselect Use with Ask SirI
Apple may outdo the competition in protecting user privacy, but it’s still a huge company with millions of users. Some data will slip through the cracks. You can follow these steps to reduce the amount of data that HomeKit can collect about you and do your part to protect your data.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn