"Both Google and Apple are cramming new AI features into their phones and other devices, and neither company has offered clear ways to control which apps those AI systems can access. Recent issues around WhatsApp on both Android and iPhone demonstrate how these interactions can go sideways, risking revealing chat conversations beyond what you intend. Users deserve better controls and clearer documentation around what these AI features can access."
"At a high level, when you compose a message with these tools, the companies can usually see the contents of those messages and receive at least a temporary copy of the text on their servers. When receiving messages, things get trickier. When you use an AI like Gemini or a feature like Apple Intelligence to summarize or read notifications, we believe companies should be doing that content processing on-device. But poor documentation and weak guardrails create issues."
Google Gemini and Apple Intelligence often send composed messages to company servers, and companies usually retain at least temporary copies of that text. Incoming-message handling is more complex; summarizing or reading notifications ideally should be done on-device but is frequently unclear. Poor documentation and weak guardrails make it difficult to know what data is stored, who can access it, and how it can be used. WhatsApp incidents on Android and iPhone show how integrations can unintentionally expose chat conversations. Device-makers should provide clearer controls, explicit permission settings for AI access, and detailed privacy documentation. Users can limit exposure by disabling or restricting AI integrations in settings.
Read at Electronic Frontier Foundation
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