Siri probably isn’t the all-knowing, all-seeing entity you’re used to invoking when you catch the sight of police lights flashing in the rearview mirror—but she is listening. “Police” is a new addition to the Apple “Shortcuts” repertoire that allows users to discreetly record encounters with law enforcement officers during traffic stops.
The obvious question is “how legal is that?” And the answer is a resounding “it depends”—on which state you’re driving through or whether or not the officer was entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy. Jarno Vanto, a shareholder at Polsinelli, thinks that if the stop happened on a crowded road in plain view of the dozens of cars passing by, then those expectations should probably be kept in check. The same goes if the officer is wearing a bodycam of their own.
