Apple has agreed to pay $95 million in cash to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that its voice-activated Siri assistant violated users' privacy.
The preliminary settlement was filed Tuesday night in federal court in Oakland, California, and must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.
Mobile device owners complained that Apple routinely recorded private conversations after users unintentionally activated Siri and disclosed these conversations to third parties such as advertisers. Ta.
Voice assistants typically respond when you use a “hotword” such as “Hey, Siri.”
The two plaintiffs said references to Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden restaurants prompted advertisements for those products. One person said they received an advertisement for a brand-name surgical treatment after a private discussion with their doctor.
The class period is from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024. It all started when Siri had a built-in “Hey, Siri” function, which was said to have led to unauthorized recordings.
Estimated tens of millions of class participants can receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, such as an iPhone or Apple Watch.
Apple denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a similar request. They could seek $1.1 million in fees and costs, up to $28.5 million in a settlement fund.
For Apple, whose net income was $93.74 billion in its most recent fiscal year, $95 million is equivalent to about nine hours of profit.
A similar lawsuit on behalf of users of Google's voice assistant is pending in federal court in San Jose, California, which is in the same district as the Oakland court. The plaintiffs are represented by the same law firm that worked on the Apple case.
The case is Lopez et al. v. Apple Inc., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 19-04577.
