Apple Settles Siri Eavesdropping Lawsuit with $95 Million Deal

Photo : AFP

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit. The lawsuit accused the company’s digital assistant, Siri, of listening to people’s private conversations without permission.

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The proposed settlement, shared in a court filing on Thursday, shows that Apple denies any wrongdoing. The company has said that it did nothing wrong, but the settlement still needs a judge’s approval to become final.

The lawsuit, filed five years ago, claimed that Siri was recording private talks from people using iPhones, iPad, Home Pods, or other Apple devices with Siri on them. The lawsuit also said that Siri might have sent these recordings to other people without users’ knowledge.

Apple has always said that it cares about privacy and has worked hard to keep personal data safe. But the lawsuit argued that Siri was activated by mistake and that it recorded people’s private conversations. Apple may have even shared these recordings with others.

To settle the case, Apple would pay $95 million, which will be divided among U.S. customers who had their private conversations recorded. People may receive up to $20 per Siri device.

Apple will also need to prove that it has deleted any recorded conversations. The company must also make it clear to users how their voice data is collected and used to make Siri better.

Apple did not comment on the settlement yet. Other companies like Amazon have also settled similar cases in the past. In 2023, Amazon paid over $30 million to settle a case about privacy problems with its Ring cameras and Alexa assistant.