Urgent Privacy Concern: iOS Call Recording Announcement Inadequacy

PeteyPete72 wrote:

I am writing to raise a serious privacy and compliance concern regarding the new call recording feature introduced in iOS 18.3. While I understand and appreciate Apple’s effort to ensure legal compliance by issuing an audible announcement when a call recording begins, the current implementation has a critical flaw:

If a user steps away from their device during a call and the other party initiates recording in their absence, the announcement plays only once in real time. Upon returning to the conversation, the user may be unaware that the call is being recorded. This effectively undermines the principle of informed consent, as the individual is not reasonably notified of the ongoing recording.

From a privacy and consumer protection standpoint, this represents a significant risk. A one-time, easily missed audible notice does not meet the threshold of adequate and continuous notice that a recording is taking place. The result is a system where a user may unknowingly disclose sensitive or personal information under the false assumption that the call is private.

Requested Remediation:

I strongly urge Apple to implement persistent and unambiguous indicators that a call is being recorded, such as:

• A continuous visual badge or indicator on the call screen.

• A repeating audio tone at set intervals while recording is active.

• A notification banner or lock-screen indicator for the duration of the recording.

Such changes would materially improve compliance with legal standards governing informed consent to recording and better align with Apple’s stated commitment to user privacy and transparency.

I respectfully request that this concern be reviewed with priority and addressed in a future iOS update.

You aren't writing Apple here. This is a user to user only forum, which Apple neither participates nor reads for user feedback. As users, we have nothing to do with this or any feature on iPhone. Use the link Branta_uk provided if you feel you need to share your concerns with Apple.

Please post wishlist items to https://www.apple.com/feedback

There seems a larger problem here, too: devices allowed to be out of one’s physical control can incur problems.

It complies with the legal requirements for notification.