Apple has agreed to a $95 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit that claimed its virtual assistant, Siri, violated users’ privacy by recording private conversations without their knowledge or consent.
The preliminary settlement, filed on December 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, requires approval by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White before it becomes official. Apple has denied any wrongdoing and liability as part of the settlement.
For those unaware, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Apple five years ago. The lawsuit accused Siri of recording users’ private and confidential conversations when it was surreptitiously activated on Siri-enabled devices.
The recordings reportedly took place even when users did not intentionally activate the “Hey Siri” feature, introduced in September 2014. This feature enabled users to summon the virtual assistant by saying the wake words “Hey Siri” instead of pressing a button.
Some of these recordings were later shared with third parties, including advertisers and human reviewers, contradicting Apple’s long-standing promise to prioritize customer privacy.
If the settlement payout is approved, the Class period to qualify for it is from September 17, 2014, to December 31, 2024.
Further, the eligible Apple user must be an individual who currently owns or previously purchased a “Siri device” and resides in the United States and its territories.
They must also be willing to declare under oath that Apple recorded their conversation, which was meant to remain private or confidential during an unintended Siri activation.
The Siri-enabled devices in the settlement include iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, MacBooks, iMacs, HomePods, iPod touch devices, and Apple TV.
Eligible class members who file valid claims of accidental recordings may receive $20 per Apple device for up to five Siri-enabled devices.
However, the size of each individual payout may differ depending on the number of eligible Siri-enabled devices owned by them and the total number of claimants.
Under the proposed settlement, Apple would also be required to “confirm” the permanent deletion of individual audio recordings from Siri collected before October 2019. Additionally, the tech giant would be required to publish a webpage to explain to users about the company’s “Improve Siri” program and what information will be stored.
The lawyers in the case are seeking to schedule a February 14 court hearing in Oakland to review the settlement terms.
