Your phone’s AI assistant wants a look inside your apps. Now, on the iPhone at least, you can tell it NO.
In a post published 28 October 2026, the EFF reported that Apple’s iOS 27.2 update introduces a new setting to “Exclude Apps” from Siri AI. The EFF said the change fulfills one of the asks from its Encrypt It Already campaign earlier in 2026.
Why does it matter? The EFF warned that “Many AI features require cloud processing,” and that “the content of secure messaging apps may leave a user’s device without their knowledge.”
Your private chats. Off your phone. Without you knowing.
The EFF’s original demand was simple: “You should be able to tell the operating system’s AI to not access an app, even if that comes at the ‘cost’ of missing out on some features.”
How To Lock It Out
The EFF said it found the Siri AI controls “pretty confusing” at launch. “You had to toggle several options to block Siri AI off from accessing an app, or disable Siri AI entirely,” the group wrote.
The new setting, the EFF said, “is far more clear and does more to protect your data.” Here is the path the EFF gives, once you’ve updated to 27.2:
- Open Settings > Siri > Excluded Apps
- Tap “Add Apps” and select the apps you want on the exclusion list
“Now Siri AI cannot access the contents of the app,” according to the EFF.
There is a trade-off. Exclude Apple Messages, and the EFF says you can no longer have Siri AI read or respond to messages for you. The “onscreen awareness” feature stops working for excluded apps too. Exclude Signal, and you cannot ask Siri about what is in the Signal app.
The EFF’s verdict on the lost features? “That’s a good thing, actually. The features not working shows that the new setting is effective.”
The safest message is the one that never leaves your phone.
The EFF also noted that switching off Siri AI and going back to Siri Classic is, for now, still an option.
Android: Read The Fine Print
The EFF checked Gemini on Android too. It said the process “has improved a little” but is not as straightforward as Apple’s new settings, and lacks a per-app switch for the screen context feature.
The EFF’s steps: open the Gemini app, tap your user photo, then Settings > Personal Intelligence > Connected Apps, and revoke access for any app you want to keep Gemini out of.
Signal doesn’t appear in that list, the EFF explained, because Signal doesn’t support Gemini’s app access feature. “That means Gemini can’t access the content of Signal directly, which is good.”
But here is the catch. According to the EFF, Gemini can read notifications if you’ve enabled the “Device Assistance” Connected App, which also enables basic features such as setting a timer. And it can use screen context unless you’ve switched off the “Use screen and app data” option in Gemini Settings.
A timer feature and a notification reader, behind the same switch. How many users ever open that menu?
The EFF’s ask: “Google should give users the ability to turn these features off per app.”
And Apple is not off the hook either. The EFF said it should “go further” and offer an option to use only “on device” AI features, similar to what Samsung offered with its Galaxy AI.
Keep It On YOUR Device
The lesson from this fight is simple: data that stays on your device is data you control. The same goes for your money.
Monero hides the sender, the receiver and the amount of each payment by default. A self-custody wallet keeps your keys on your own device, not with an exchange.
Monero One is a free, open-source, self-custody Monero wallet for iPhone and Android. Your keys stay on your device, and the app sends us no analytics. Full disclosure: the host built Monero One. He’s biased. He’s also right.
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