Apple to pay $95 million after Siri “unintentionally” recorded private convos

12

Apple to pay $95 million after Siri “unintentionally” recorded private convos


Law

  • Apple has agreed to settle class-action lawsuit over Siri complaints
  • Victims reported brands mentioned in private conversations later appearing in targeted advertisements on their Apple devices
  • Tens of millions may be affected, but Apple didn’t admit wrongdoing

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit after its device owners claimed Siri disclosed private conversations to advertisers.

Per Reuters, the case in the Oakland, California federal court, Lopez et al v. Apple Inc, revolves around unintentional activation of Siri during phone calls, resulting in Apple disclosing snippets of conversation to advertisers.

Despite voice assistants usually only activating with a wake word or phrase (think “Alexa” or, here, “Hey, Siri”), plaintiffs in the lawsuit claimed they had been served advertisements for brand name products in what they believed were confidential conversations.

Siri privacy lawsuit

The class action period ranges from September 17, 2014, the introduction of the “Hey, Siri” wake phrase, through to December 31, 2024. Tens of millions of people could receive up to $20 per Siri-equipped device, including iPhones and Apple Watches.

Apple was tight-lipped when approached for comment on the settlement, though it has explicitly denied wrongdoing in court.

Reuters notes $95 million is just nine hours worth of profit for Apple, making this latest class action against a big tech company yet another example of such actions being factored in as a business cost.

Elsewhere, a case against Google in relation to its own Voice Assistant is ongoing in the San Jose, California Federal Court, and it’s hard to imagine that the outcome won’t be similarly inconsequential.

You might also like

  • US government wants to toughen up cybersecurity rules for healthcare organizations
  • Over 800,000 electric car owners and drivers may have had private info exposed online
  • We’ve also listed the best business smartphones right now
TOPICS
Luke Hughes
Luke Hughes
Staff Writer

 Luke Hughes holds the role of Staff Writer at TechRadar Pro, producing news, features and deals content across topics ranging from computing to cloud services, cybersecurity, data privacy and business software.

Latest
Mark Zuckerberg and Nick Clegg

Nick Clegg leaves Meta ahead of Trump Presidency

See more latest ►
Previous articleSamsung and Google have unveiled their Dolby Atmos rival: meet Eclipsa Audio, launching in this year’s new TVs
Next articleYou can now play red light, green light in Call of Duty thanks to new Squid Game collab