Apple to pay $95 million to settle privacy lawsuit over Siri

Apple within the scope of a class action lawsuit filed in 2019 regarding allegations that Siri violates user privacy $95 million agreed to a compromise. The company offers owners of Siri-enabled devices in the US a payment of no more than $20 per device. However, this amount may vary depending on the number of people applying. The settlement requires approval from a U.S. District Court judge before it can go into effect.

This compromise September 17, 2014 with Between 31 December 2024 It includes a group of users who have purchased or used a Siri-enabled iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac, HomePod, iPod touch or Apple TV. In order for users to benefit from this payment, Siri must confirm by swearing that it has accidentally recorded a private or confidential conversation.

The case was filed following a news published by The Guardian in 2019. The news claimed that Apple had third-party subcontractors listen to Siri recordings for quality control purposes, and that these recordings included confidential medical information, criminal content, and even audio of couples’ private moments. While Siri should only be activated with the “Hey Siri” command, it was stated that even ordinary sounds such as the zipper sound could accidentally trigger Siri.

Apple argued that only a small part was examined and apologized and announced that it had terminated this practice. The company then restarted its quality control program, made major changes, allowing only Apple employees to review these recordings, stating that accidentally recorded sounds would be deleted, and announcing that users must explicitly consent to share Siri recordings.

The plaintiffs claimed that Siri mistakenly recorded them on multiple occasions. Some plaintiffs claimed that they encountered advertisements for certain products after Siri recorded secret conversations.

Apple isn’t the only company accused of such privacy violations. Google and Amazon have also been accused of similar privacy violations, and Google even has an ongoing lawsuit on the matter.