A British woman awaiting a biopsy was left stunned after receiving a blunt and highly personal message reading, “Do you have cancer?” — a message apparently sent by Apple’s Siri without any human prompting. The incident, originally reported by The Times UK, has raised new concerns about the reliability and privacy of digital assistants like Siri.
Carole Allen, 72, from Hampshire, received the message from her friend Christine (not her real name), who was equally shocked to learn she hadn’t sent it herself. “I was utterly shocked, because it was just so intrusive,” Allen told The Times. She was preparing for a biopsy but had only shared this with a few close contacts — Christine wasn’t one of them.
Christine had been discussing another Carole’s medical situation and a relative’s cancer diagnosis while wearing her Apple Watch at dinner. Her iPhone was on a table across the room. Suddenly, without any known trigger, Siri sent the chilling message.
“I looked at my watch and it had actually texted Carole, ‘Do you have cancer?’ I jumped from the table to delete it, but it was too late,” said Christine, describing the moment with horror. Allen responded, confused and hurt, leading to an awkward and emotional exchange between the two.
The origin of the message remains unexplained. Christine insists she didn’t say the wake words “Hey Siri” or “Siri,” and did not have Siri’s auto-send messaging feature enabled. Apple’s own guidance notes users can disable Siri’s responsiveness entirely via settings, though few are aware of the potential for such misfires.
Allen, who previously ran private medical businesses, expressed concern about the broader implications of such a tech failure, especially given the sensitive nature of health issues. “It would cause an immense amount of pain and upset for someone more emotionally fragile,” she said, adding, “Mankind is throwing away its autonomy” in its rush to embrace AI.
Christine has since deactivated Siri but admitted it complicates hands-free use while driving. “I’m kind of between a rock and a hard place,” she noted.
Other Apple users have reported similar incidents. A Reddit user claimed Siri once sent a profanity-laced message to his father after he shouted at a video game, unaware the assistant was listening.
Apple has not yet commented on this latest mishap, but The Times UK notes that Siri has faced ongoing criticism over privacy and performance. A full overhaul of the assistant is expected by 2027 as the company aims to keep pace with rapid AI developments.
