Apple has agreed to pay $95 million in cash to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant, Siri, violated users’ privacy and listened to them without their consent.
iPhone owners complained that Apple routinely recorded private conversations after users unintentionally activated Siri and made those conversations available to third parties, including advertisers. The preliminary settlement was filed Tuesday night in federal court in Oakland, California, and must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.
Voice assistants typically respond when you use a “hotword” such as “Hey, Siri.” The two plaintiffs said references to Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden restaurants prompted advertisements for those products. One person said he received an advertisement for a well-known surgical treatment after a personal discussion with his doctor. The plaintiffs argued that Apple did not receive consent before recording their conversations and, in fact, could not have obtained consent because one of the plaintiffs was a minor and did not have an Apple account at the time of the recording.
The complaint alleges that the violations continued from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024. The violation allegedly began with the addition of a “Hey, Siri” function to Siri, which led to unauthorized recordings. Estimated tens of millions of class participants can receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, such as an iPhone or Apple Watch.
Apple denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement. The company has consistently emphasized the importance of privacy. In 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook denounced the surveillance of other tech companies, saying, “The desire to prioritize profits over privacy is nothing new.” The company further claimed in a 2018 letter to Congress that Apple’s iPhone devices “don’t listen” to users’ voices other than detecting the voice trigger “Hey Siri.”
However, in a 2019 Guardian report cited in the original complaint, an Apple whistleblower revealed that contractors regularly listen to users’ private conversations when performing quality assurance on Siri. He said that he was These conversations included confidential medical information, drug deals, and recordings of couples having sex. Some of these conversations were recorded by mistake, the whistleblower said, because Siri can mistake things like “zip sound” as a wake word.
At the time, Apple said that only a “small percentage” of Siri requests were evaluated for quality, and those requests were not tied to a user’s Apple ID. “Siri responses are analyzed in a secure facility, and all reviewers are obligated to comply with Apple’s requests.” Strict confidentiality requirements. ”The company then paused its quality improvement program and stopped audio recording by default.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a similar request. They could seek $1.1 million in fees and costs, up to $28.5 million in a settlement fund.
A weekly look at how technology is shaping our lives
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may include information about charities, online advertising, and content sponsored by external parties. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and are subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
After newsletter promotion
For Apple, whose net income was $93.74 billion in its most recent fiscal year, $95 million is equivalent to about nine hours of profit.
A similar lawsuit on behalf of users of Google’s voice assistant is pending in federal court in San Jose, California, which is in the same district as the Oakland court. The plaintiffs are represented by the same law firm that worked on the Apple case.
