Apple has agreed to pay USD 95 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing its digital assistant, Siri, of eavesdropping on users’ private conversations.
The settlement, filed in a California federal court, comes after years of litigation and despite Apple steadfastly denying any wrongdoing.
The lawsuit, filed in 2018, claimed that Siri was unintentionally listening in on private conversations across iPhones, iPads, HomePods, and other Siri-enabled devices. This also means that Siri would inadvertently activate and capture conversations even without saying “Hey, Siri.”
Some of these recordings, according to the suit, may have even been shared with third parties.
The USD 95 million settlement fund will be distributed to US owners of Siri-enabled devices, with individual payments of up to USD 20 per device for those whose conversations were overheard.
The agreement also requires Apple to ensure that any captured conversations are deleted and to make it clearer to users how they can manage the voice data used to improve Siri.
It’s also worth noting that Apple isn’t the only tech giant facing scrutiny over its digital assistants. Google is currently in a similar situation with its own voice assistant.
Interestingly, the case is being heard in the same district as the Oakland court, and the plaintiffs are being represented by the same law firms.
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