Apple’s $95 Million Settlement for Siri Privacy Violations

Apple has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit by paying $95 million after allegations of Siri eavesdropping. The lawsuit claimed that Siri could be activated accidentally, recording conversations without consent, and sending them to third parties, violating users’ privacy.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the lawsuit, filed in 2019, included claims that users were recorded without consent and then targeted with specific ads based on their conversations. For example, one plaintiff received ads related to a product they discussed, while another received ads for a medical treatment after a private conversation.

Apple denied any wrongdoing in the settlement, stating that it did not record, disclose, or fail to delete conversations without consent. Each U.S. claimant could receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device owned between 2014 and 2019. However, the settlement is pending approval from U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland.

Despite the estimated tens of millions of class members, the $95 million settlement amounts to about nine hours of Apple’s profit, which was $93.74 billion in the 2024 fiscal year. As part of the agreement, Apple will delete pre-October 2019 recordings, provide clearer data-sharing opt-in instructions for users, and offer compensation to affected users.

A similar lawsuit is ongoing for users of Google’s Voice Assistant in the San Jose federal court, with the same law firms representing the plaintiffs as in the Apple case. It’s important to note that this settlement is a significant step towards ensuring user privacy and data protection in the realm of virtual assistants.