This is one of the questions our team hears most often lately, and it’s a good one. AI is now built into many of today’s most popular hearing aids, including the brands we carry here at Prescription Hearing: Phonak, Signia, and ReSound.
The short (and reassuring) answer is that modern AI hearing aids are designed to process sound on the device itself, not by uploading your conversations to a server.
But there are still privacy considerations worth understanding, especially once a companion app enters the picture. Here’s what you actually need to know.
How AI is used in your hearing aid
The AI in today’s hearing aids is used for one job: making it easier for you to hear. It does this by analyzing the sounds around you in real time to identify whether you’re in a quiet room, a noisy restaurant, or a crowded event, and adjusting accordingly. AI chips can reduce background noise, clarify speech, and put more focus on voices in front of you.
This processing happens locally, meaning it runs on the AI chip inside the hearing aid itself. Your conversations are not being recorded and sent to Phonak’s servers, Signia’s servers, or anyone else’s. The AI is doing its work right there in the device, in milliseconds, without an internet connection.
This is the key thing to understand about how AI works in hearing aids, because it dispels the most common misconception people have from the term “AI.”
Data your hearing aid and its app collect
While the hearing aids themselves aren’t transmitting audio, their companion apps work differently.
Apps like myPhonak, the Signia app, and the ReSound Smart 3D app let you adjust settings, track your usage, and in some cases, communicate with your audiologist remotely. To do that, they collect information.
What exactly they collect varies depending on the app and how you use it, but commonly includes:
- Usage data: How many hours per day you’re wearing your hearing aids, which programs you use most, and how often you adjust the volume
- Hearing preferences: Your saved settings and adjustments over time
- Environment data: Some apps log the types of listening environments you spend time in, which helps personalize recommendations
- Device and location data: Basic information about your phone and, if you’ve granted location permissions, sometimes where you are
This data is primarily used to improve your experience and to share relevant information with your audiologist if you’re using remote care features. Data is generally not sold to third parties, but privacy policies can and do change, and they differ between manufacturers.
Helpful tip: If you’re not using remote care features and want to minimize data collection, you may have more permissions enabled in your app than you actually need.
Additional AI hearing aid privacy considerations
If you’re concerned about AI hearing aids and privacy, it’s helpful to understand more about how your hearing aids connect to your phone, and what happens when third-party platforms get involved.
Bluetooth connections
Phonak, Signia, and Resound all use Bluetooth to connect your hearing aids to your smartphone and accessories. Bluetooth is an established, widely used technology, and modern hearing aids use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), which has strong built-in security protocols. That said, Bluetooth does carry some inherent risk if your device is left discoverable and connects to unknown sources. In practice, this is a low risk for most wearers, but it’s not zero.
Helpful tip: Keep your software up to date and ignore pairing requests from unknown devices.
App permissions
When you install a hearing aid companion app, it will typically request access to your phone’s Bluetooth, microphone, and sometimes even your location and contacts. Not all of these permissions are necessary for basic functionality so it’s a good idea to review which permissions you’ve granted. Regarding microphone access: the app itself isn’t recording your conversations for external use. Microphone access is typically needed for live features like streaming and remote adjustments.
Third-party integrations
Some hearing aid features connect with other platforms like Apple Health, Google Fit, and similar services. If you’ve enabled these integrations, data from your hearing aids may be shared with those platforms under their own separate privacy policies.
How to protect your privacy with AI hearing aids
You don’t need to avoid apps or disconnect from Bluetooth to stay safe. A few straightforward habits go a long way:
- Review your app permissions. Open your phone’s settings and check what your hearing aid app can access. Disable anything you don’t actively use, especially location permissions if remote care isn’t something you rely on.
- Keep your hearing aids and app updated. Manufacturers release firmware and software updates regularly, and many of these include security improvements. Keeping software current is one of the simplest things you can do to stay safe.
- Only pair with devices you trust. When connecting via Bluetooth, make sure you’re pairing with your own phone or a familiar accessory, not an unknown device.
- Read the privacy policy for your specific brand. Not the most exciting reading, but privacy policies tell you exactly what data is collected, how it’s stored, and under what circumstances it might be shared. Phonak, Signia, and ReSound all publish these on their websites.
- Talk to your audiologist. If you’re unsure which remote care features you have enabled or what data is being shared as part of your care plan, ask. We’re happy to walk through it with you.
AI hearing aids & privacy: the bottom line
AI hearing aids are not eavesdropping on your conversations. The technology is designed around local, on-device processing, and privacy protections have improved significantly as these features have become mainstream. That said, the companion apps do collect data, and it’s always a good idea to know which permissions you’ve granted.
If you have questions about the specific hearing aids you’re wearing or considering, contact our team. We’re happy to help you find the right fit and make sure you’re comfortable with how the AI features work before you commit.
