With Apple Watch Eavesdropping Features, What Is at Stake Is Public Perception

Rodrigo Ghedin on the Audio Intelligence features in the new Apple Watch models: And… it doesn’t matter. The message that sticks in people’s minds is that the Apple Watch has become a constantly listening device. And although the new feature only works on the just-announced watches (Series 12 and Ultra 4), the distrust extends to every Apple Watch in use, since they are visually indistinguishable. In an announcement lasting just a few minutes, Apple threw in the trash a decade plus effort of trying to convince people that their iPhones aren’t listening to their conversations to serve ads hours later. Given the widespread belief in this conspiracy theory — in one study, over half of surveyed people believed it was a plausible explanation for targeted advertising — it is not surprising that some companies have cynically exploited public perception even as others, like Apple, desperately push back. I have seen people using the settled Siri lawsuit to argue Apple admitted to using audio…