CALIFORNIA – Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit that accuses them of allowing virtual assistant Siri to eavesdrop on people using its iPhone and other devices.
Attorneys filed the agreement in an Oakland federal court, December 31, that settles the lawsuit alleging that Siri-enabled devices have been improperly recording conversations without user consent since at least 2014.
The proposed $95 million settlement is pending approval from U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.
If approved, it would allow U.S. consumers who owned Siri-enabled devices from September 2014 through the end of 2024 to file claims for compensation, with potential payouts of up to $20 per device. There is a five device limit.
Apple has denied any wrongdoing but agreed to the settlement to resolve the dispute.
Sound of a zip woke up Siri
Plaintiffs allege in the court documents that Apple violated their rights to privacy and misused their data when they accidentally activated Siri in a “False Accept” that then led to a recording.
They say Apple represented to users that the devices with Siri would only listen to, record, and share their conversations by giving an activation command like “Hey, Siri”, manually pressing a button on the device, and, in case of the AppleWatch, by raising it to one’s mouth and beginning to talk.
However, events of “False Accept” occurred when the devices with Siri were “accidentally woken up.”
“For example, instead of activating by the activation command, the “sound of a zip” accidentally woke up Siri to listen to and record the following conversation,” says a statement in the court document.
The plaintiffs allege that Apple, in an attempt to improve its products, recorded these conversations, listened to them, and then shared them with third party contractors even when users did not utter the activation command.
Apple does not dispute that they have in the past given these accidental recordings to third parties in an effort to determine why Siri was activated without the proper activation phrase.
When will settlement claims be paid?
A decision on the settlement agreement is expected on February 14, 2025.
If the court approves the settlement, eligible consumers—those who owned Siri-enabled devices between September 2014 and December 2024—will be notified about the claims process.
Each claimant could receive up to $20 per device for no more than five devices, though the exact amount may vary based on the number of claims submitted.
The timeline for disbursing payments will depend on the court’s approval and the subsequent administration of the settlement.
