Apple Agrees To Pay $95 Million To Settle Siri Privacy Lawsuit In US District Court

Apple Agrees To Pay $95 Million To Settle Siri Privacy Lawsuit In US District Court

It requires approval of District Judge Jeffrey White

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million in cash to settle a proposed class action lawsuit in the US District Court, Northern District of California.

The lawsuit claimed that Apple’s voice-activated Siri assistant violated users' privacy by recording conversations unintentionally and sharing them with third parties.

A preliminary settlement was filed, which requires approval of District Judge Jeffrey White.

It began when Siri incorporated the ‘Hey, Siri’ feature that allegedly led to the unauthorized recordings. Voice assistants react when people use ‘hot words’ such as ‘Hey, Siri.’

It covered devices enabled with Siri from 17 September 2014 to 31 December 2024.

Mobile device owners complained that Apple routinely recorded their private conversations after they activated Siri unintentionally and disclosed the conversations to third parties such as advertisers.

Two plaintiffs alleged that their mention of Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden restaurants triggered ads for those products. Another said he got ads for a brand name surgical treatment after discussing it (privately), with his doctor.

Class members, estimated to be in millions, may receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, such as iPhones and Apple Watches.

However, Apple denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs may seek up to $28.5 million in fees, plus $1.1 million for expenses, from the settlement fund.

The $95 million is about nine hours of profit for Apple, whose net income was $93.74 billion in its latest fiscal year.

A similar lawsuit on behalf of users of Google's Voice Assistant has been pending in the San Jose, California federal court. The plaintiffs are represented by the same law firms as in the Apple case.