France continues to scrutinize the activities of US tech giants with a proverbial magnifying glass in a bid to enforce its Digital Services Tax and ensure compliance with EU-level regulations, such as the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA). Now, Apple has fallen afoul of the French regulators for the second time in 2025, with voice recording retentions by Siri serving as the casus belli this time around.
To wit, the Paris prosecutor's office has now opened an investigation into Apple's handling of voice recordings by its on-device digital assistant, Siri. This follows a complaint filed in France earlier in 2025 by a human rights organization - the Ligue des droits de l’Homme. The complaint cited a testimony from Thomas le Bonniec, a former Apple subcontractor in Cork, who alleged that his job with Apple required him to listen to user recordings by Siri, including one by a purported pedophile.
Do note that Apple published a blog back in January, highlighting its use of voice recording retentions to improve Siri, and asserting that it "has never used Siri data to build marketing profiles, never made it available for advertising, and never sold it to anyone for any purpose."
Apple had then gone on to highlight the myriad of ways in which Siri protects user privacy:
- Siri uses on-device processing where possible.
- "For capable devices, the audio of user requests is processed entirely on device using the Neural Engine, unless a user chooses to share it with Apple."
- For off-device processing, Siri uses a random identifier, consisting of a long string of letters and numbers associated with a single device, to keep track of data.
- "Apple does not retain audio recordings of Siri interactions unless users explicitly opt in to help improve Siri, and even then, the recordings are used solely for that purpose."
- Users can easily opt out of voice recording retentions by Siri.
France Continues To Maintain A Stringent Stance Apropos US Tech Giants, Including Apple
France has taken a number of steps against US tech giants in 2025 alone:
- The French Competition Authority (FCA) imposed a fine of EUR 150 million on Apple back in March 2025 for abusing its dominant position in the distribution of mobile applications on iOS devices.
- France continues to levy a 3 percent digital tax on the revenue generated by large digital companies, primarily US tech giants, from online advertising, user data exchange, and digital intermediation services.
Do note that President Trump has threatened to impose additional tariffs on France in response to the Digital Services Tax.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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