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Siri shares your nickname with your contacts

Watch out iPhone 4S user -- voice control agent Siri sticks your nickname in your contact info, so be careful with your pet names.

Luke Westaway Senior editor
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
Luke Westaway
2 min read

Siri, the voice-controlled assistant that lives inside the iPhone 4S, has been gossiping about us behind our backs. Specifically, it's been been sneaking its pet name for us into our contact information, where it could be accidentally shared the next time we message someone with our details.

The heartless trust-breaker Siri has the ability to call you whatever you want it to. For instance if you tell it, "Call me Alf," Siri will oblige. But it also enters that nickname next to your own entry in your contacts list, just under your actual name.

So if you email or MMS your contact information to someone (by hitting the 'Share Contact' button from the contact page), the recipient will be treated to the personal pet name you've asked Siri to call you by.

An interesting discovery by Fury.com, consider this a heads-up if you've asked Siri to call you 'honeybunch', 'cuddlepuff' or any equally inappropriate nicknames to be sending out to colleagues or classmates you fancy.

We thought we shared a sacred bond of trust with Siri, but that trust has been shattered like an icicle in a polar bear's powerful jaws. Why do you hurt us so, Siri? Is this because we said you're less useful in the UK because you lack the ability to look up local information here? Because we've had relationships end that way before.

Siri is one of the new features crammed inside the iPhone 4S. While so far Siri has annoyed us as much as it's impressed us, the 4S also packs a monstrously powerful camera and snappy A5 chip that make it a brilliant smart phone. There's not much reason to upgrade if you already own an iPhone 4 though.

What do you think of Siri? Has it hurt your feelings yet? Is it the future of tech or a silly gimmick? Spin us a line in the comments section below, or over on our Facebook wall