iPhone users in uproar over Apple’s new Journal app that is automatically downloaded to your device and shares information with strangers nearby

iOS users are criticizing Apple's new AI-powered Journal app, fearing it misuses people's thoughts, emotions and private experiences.

The iPhone app was released in Apple's new iOS 17.2 update and prompts users to write about their lives to “reflect and practice gratitude,” according to the Cupertino company.

However, technology experts point out that the app's default settings make your phone discoverable by nearby devices, and not just when you're using it.

Furthermore, the app deploys machine learning on each user's device.

The Journal app exploits users' photos, exercise data, recent music listening history, and even location data to craft so-called journal entries that are often completed before the phone owner even enters a single word.

These capabilities have raised privacy concerns and concerns about data that may be shared without people knowing.

Some have also noted the new app's similarity to Google's “Project Ellmann,” which uses the company's ChatGPT competitor Gemini to comb through user data and craft a comprehensive story about your life.

DailyMail.com has contacted Apple for comment.

When the iOS 17.2 update was released, which included daily suggestions, many media outlets covered the update Without criticizing it as just a new feature.

But Kristen Ruby, CEO of Ruby Media Group, expressed doubts about X: “I can't believe no one thinks this Apple Journal is a big deal.” Forget ChatGPT. This is machine learning on the device. Of your life. Hello, wake up.

Senior tech critic Christine Roby wrote on X about how the new suggestions feature could change the nature of journaling by inserting artificial intelligence between you and your journal.

The button to turn on journal suggestions is large compared to the buttons that allow users to restrict their access to personal data, read its privacy terms, or skip it altogether

The technology expert also reflected on how AI-generated prompts will change the nature of journaling and self-reflection by introducing machine learning between a person's brain and their pen.

“The AI ​​will prompt you for what you type based on a review of your digital history on your device,” Robbie wrote.

“The sacred bond between pen, paper and your mind no longer exists when there is another entity involved.” This forever changes the concept of self-reflection when AI prompts you what you should be thinking.

She also highlighted the similarity between Journal Suggestions and Google's secret “Elman Project.”

Apple's new Journal app brings artificial intelligence between the iPhone user and their personal reflections

“I was blown away by the new Apple Journaling feature,” Ruby shared.

According to confidential documents from an internal Google summit, which were leaked earlier this month, the company has plans to build an artificial intelligence that will become a “life story teller” of users — using unprecedented access to their data.

“We go through your photos, looking at their tags and locations to identify a meaningful moment,” according to the presentation slide.

The slide continued: “When we step back and understand your entire life, your overarching story becomes clear.”

With Apple's new app, it seems that the company may be working on something similar, or has already shipped it.

Technology reporter BGR's Chris Smith It also found privacy issues with the Journaling app, noting that the feature means iPhones can detect other nearby devices “to potentially use that information in journaling suggestions.”

“Journal Suggestions uses Bluetooth technology to detect how many devices and contacts are around you without storing which of those specific contacts were present.” This information is used to improve and prioritize your suggestions. It is stored on the device, and is not shared with Apple,” the print version of the app states.

The new Journal Suggestions feature in Apple's iOS 17.2 update uses access to your phone's apps to prompt thought on specific topics

What personal information does Journal Suggestions collect?

The first time you open Journal after updating to iOS 17.2, the screen displays Journal Suggestions.

“iPhone uses on-device intelligence to create daily suggestions based on your everyday moments,” the message read.

“Suggestions can help you think of topics you might want to write about, like places you go and photos you take.” “Journal apps can only access your data if it's included in a suggestion you write or save.”

A large button prompts users to “turn on journal suggestions,” while a much smaller block of text offers the opportunity to “customize suggestions.”

This last button opens a menu showing exactly what types of data Journal Suggestions can access: Activity, i.e. your workouts and workouts; Media, including podcasts and music you listen to; The contacts you message and call; Photos, including your library, memories, and shared photos; And important locations – places where you spend time.

There's also a long privacy statement that users can access, which explains that Journal Suggestions uses data on your device to collect moments and events.

Journal suggestions use not only photos, music, and workout data, but also nearby devices. Apple did not respond to questions about exactly what data this feature shares and collects

The privacy terms explain that Journal Suggestions uses Bluetooth technology to detect the number of nearby devices, but says it only detects the number of devices and does not store information about their identity.

The app automatically enables location sharing if you turn on journal suggestions.

It does not explain what information is shared between devices, nor does it explain what data is stored. DailyMail.com has asked the company for clarification on these points.

How to prevent the Journal app from accessing your data

If you simply accept, as many people do, the Journal app's request to access your data, you can turn it off at any time and clear the data it has already collected.

The steps are simple:

1. Open settings'
2. Scroll down to “Privacy and Security” and click on it
3. Scroll down and open Daily Suggestions
4. Select each option and turn it on or off using the switch on the right
5. To clear the data collected by the app, tap Clear History and confirm the selection when prompted
6. To disable location sharing, turn off the switch labeled “Discoverable by others”