Apple Agrees To Pay $95 Million To Settle Siri Privacy Lawsuit

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit filed over its Siri voice assistant, according to a newly filed court document.

Lawyers for people who sued Apple after they said Siri recorded their conversations and shared the conversations with advertisers told a federal court in California that Apple does not oppose their proposed settlement, which features a payment of $95 million.

“The Settlement, if approved, will resolve Plaintiffs’ allegations that Siri Device purchasers’ confidential or private communications were obtained by Apple and/or were shared with third parties without their consent as a result of an unintended Siri activation,” the lawyers said in the Dec. 31 filing.

Plaintiffs said in the most recent version of their lawsuit that Apple illegally recorded their confidential conversations despite promising that Siri would only listen to, record, and share conversations with permission.

Plaintiffs said that some of their conversations in their home that should not have been recorded were used by Apple and its partners to target them with advertisements for Olive Garden, Air Jordans, and other products.

“Because the intercepted conversations took place in private to the exclusion of others, only through Apple’s surreptitious recording could these specific advertisements be pinpointed to Plaintiffs Lopez and A.L,” the suit stated.

Apple said in filings that Siri lets users know when it is recording and that the court should dismiss the suit.

A federal judge only threw out part of the suit, leading to the new proposed settlement.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the court should certify a class that includes all people who own or owned a Siri device, live in the United States and its territories, and whose confidential communications were obtained by Apple “as a result of unintended Siri activation” between Sept. 17, 2014, and the date of the settlement. The former date is when Apple introduced the “Hey, Siri,” activation feature.

A notice sent to owners and former owners would direct them to submit a claim form through a website to get a chunk of the $95 million.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs can seek up to $29.6 million for fees and expenses, according to the proposed settlement.

As part of the settlement, Apple will confirm within six months that it has permanently deleted Siri audio recordings collected by the company prior to October 2019. Apple must also post a webpage explaining how users can opt in to an option to improve Siri on Siri devices, and detailing what information Apple stores from users who decide to opt in.

Apple and a lawyer representing the plaintiffs did not return The Epoch Times’ requests for comment.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White must still approve the settlement.