Apple denies wrongdoing but has committed to deleting pre-October 2019 Siri recordings
Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to resolve a five-year class-action lawsuit alleging its virtual assistant, Siri, recorded conversations without user consent. The settlement, pending court approval, could pay those owning US-based Apple products up to $20 per device.
The affected users should have owned Siri-enabled devices like iPhones, iPads, or Apple Watches between September 17th, 2014 and December 31st, 2024. They can file claims for up to five devices.
Plaintiffs claimed that the users may have accidentally activated Siri, capturing private audio, which was later reviewed by human contractors worldwide.
Apple denies wrongdoing but has committed to deleting pre-October 2019 Siri recordings and creating a webpage explaining its “Improve Siri” program.
The settlement highlights long-standing concerns over the privacy risks of voice-activated technology. Google and Amazon also use contractors to listen to users’ audio recordings, and a similar suit against Google is pending in court.