back to article Naughty Siri breaks law by listing Chinese escorts

Voice-activated digital assistant Siri has discovered a rebellious streak which could put it on collision course with the Chinese authorities, after appearing to answer user requests on where to find pornography and prostitutes. It seems Siri is a lot more worldly wise than its pre-teen age would have us believe, apparently …

COMMENTS

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  1. paulc
    Stop

    Story? What Story...

    users ask about escorts, get information on escorts...

    a real story would have been them censoring the results and having Siri come back with something like "I'm sorry Dave, I can't let you do that" ...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Story? What Story...

      News just in! Aids to vision, formerly known as "glasses", link customers to escorts when used. Spokesman said "we are looking to prosecute Specsavers for their lack of concern for the law. We will impose a requirement for them to filter out any such content in the future." More new to come at 6!

    2. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      Re: a real story

      I beg to differ. Most search engines that operate in China *do* censor results, so if Siri doesn't then that's newsworthy. I wonder where Siri is getting her information from. I wonder if the local plod are already using her to track down down people who they regard as criminals.

  2. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge
    Coat

    escorts are one thing

    What happens if you ask "Siri, where would I find a hitman?"

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Big Brother

      Re: escorts are one thing

      "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue"

    2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: escorts are one thing

      More importantly, where do I find a Cortina?

  3. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    Windows

    "Freedom from Porn"

    Jobs was ridiculous.

    Really, that slogan could well fit on the entry gate of one of those camps.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Freedom from Porn"

      "Abstinenz macht frei".

      Also:

      > when prompted by the commend: "I want to visit prostitutes”.

      Should that be command or commendable?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Freedom from Porn"

      "Jobs was ridiculous."

      In uncountable ways, but he wasn't stupid, he realised an App Store stuffed with tits wasn't going to sit well with all those parents that buy their kids iStuff, If people want porn, well that's what the Internet is for, they don't need Apps to fap.

      1. Martin Huizing
        Trollface

        Re: "Freedom from Porn"

        Applefap?

        Fapplejuice?

        Hookers and jail time? There's a fapp for that!

        I'm spent!

  4. Jack Project

    The bigger story here is that Siri actually worked for a change.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Freedom" from Porn

    All you need to do to be free from porn, is to not look for it.

    I've been online since ~1997, and despite seeing lots of porn, the number of times I've found porn without looking for it is in the single digits.

    I imagine the kind of people who want freedom from porn being like so:

    ...remembers one of those disgustingly explicit hip-hop videos he caught a glimpse of in the mall...

    "Lord, forgive me for what I am about to do."

    ...fires up imagefap.com

    ...five minutes later, deleting history, washing hands, offering prayers for forgiveness, and promises to never be so weak again.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I never got why China cracks down on pornography and Prostitution...

    It just pushes the real criminals to get involved in it rather than it being a managed industry,

    even the UK's laws are too harsh on the profession..

    If brothels were legal and licensed, then they could be policed easier, and illegal brothels would become fewer..

    If there is a legal alternative, then people will use it in preference to the illegal one, i.e. there would be less of a market for trafficking of girls if brothels were legal & monitored (Plus the advantage of tax income from the businesses!!, I wonder how many prostitutes/escorts currently pay tax on their earnings...)

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Devil

      Oi! Stop being so reasonable! This is the internet dammit!

      Next you'll be saying that 'the war on drugs' makes no sense, and we should legalise those too...

      I didn't come here for a lecture on communism!

    2. asdf
      Thumb Down

      easy

      Well as the recent scandals show the way to best political rivals legally in China is get them labeled gangsters and or prostitutes and then you are free to do to them as you please. We in west may be disgusted with our political systems but we really have no idea how bad it can get.

    3. Eddy Ito

      "If brothels were legal and licensed, then they could be policed easier, and illegal brothels would become fewer.."

      Brothels are legal in parts of Nevada but note that they are not legal in Las Vegas. Oddly child prostitution and human trafficking is a fairly big problem in Las Vegas. It almost seems the ban creates the illicit market where the real problem activity can flourish. I'm sure there's a saying about paving a road with good intentions and a hand basket or something like that.

  7. Christian Berger

    One should note...

    ...that previously "walled garden" approaches to networking and payment has actually lead to lots of porn constantly being advertised. For example I somewhere have an old "Datex-P" magazine from Germany which was full of advertisements for Porn-Sites on "Datex-P" (old walled garden online service in Germany).

    Same goes for "premium rate phonecalls" or SMS services. Porn is always way up on the list.

  8. JaitcH
    Unhappy

    Why ask Siri?

    Most women;s hairdresser staffs have extra curricular work.

    I stay in a teacher's apartment on school grounds when in NanNing and I have to run a gauntlet of five hairstylist shops and everyone of them solicits business from men passing by.

    A but embarrassing for the female teacher but she is used to it.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why ask Siri?

      Was it not Mistress Quickly who complained that people thought she ran a knocking shop because she housed a number of seamstresses?

      Shakespeare phrased it better though.

  9. Arachnoid

    "If brothels were legal and licensed, then they could be policed easier, and illegal brothels would become fewer.."

    Dream on, the illegal establishments would just under cut the tax paying ones.As for Siri well shes a bit of a dumb blond to say the least.

  10. Crisp
    Coat

    Does anyone really give a fuck?

    I know of 12 Escorts nearby, 5 of which are fairly close to you.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Does anyone really give a fuck?

      There are also two Fiestas, three Mondeos, and one very lonely Golf.

  11. BigAndos
    Thumb Up

    Finally, a use for Siri!

    At least Siri has a purpose in China then! All Siri helps me with is avoiding use of the rather fiddly reminders interface, although I'm still on iOS 5 so don't know if iOS 6 Siri is crippled in the UK.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    @ JaitcH

    Ah Nanning, Tai Chi in Renmin Park every morning, and a knocking shop every 100 meters; I saw one right next to a childrens clothes store!!!

    Strangely though, they took one look at the size of me and announced they were all terribly busy and that they couldnt "fit me in".

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Holmes

    I should think the Chinese authorities would like this

    If prostitutes are as easy to find as asking Siri, why aren't the cops doing this and busting them? It would seem to make their jobs a lot easier!

    And why not crack down on Baidu for making this information available, as Siri has to be getting her information from somewhere and I'm pretty sure it isn't stored on Apple servers or found with Wolfram Alpha.

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