Apple has agreed to pay $95 million in cash to resolve a planned class action lawsuit alleging that its voice-activated Siri assistant breached customers’ privacy.
On Tuesday night, a preliminary settlement was filed in federal court in Oakland, California, and must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.
Mobile device customers claimed that Apple often captured their private chats when they mistakenly enabled Siri and shared these talks with third parties such as advertising.
Voice assistants generally respond to “hot words” like “Hey, Siri.”
Two plaintiffs claimed that references of Air Jordan footwear and Olive Garden restaurants resulted in advertising for both items. Another said he received advertisements for a brand name surgical therapy after discussing it discreetly with his doctor.
The class period lasts from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024. It started when Siri added the “Hey, Siri” capability, which reportedly led to the illicit recordings.
Class members, expected to number in the tens of millions, might get up to $20 for each Siri-enabled item, like as iPhones and Apple Watches.
Apple denied wrongdoing in its agreement to settle.
The Cupertino, California-based corporation and its attorneys did not reply to demands for comment on Thursday.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately reply to similar inquiries. They might demand up to $28.5 million in fees, plus $1.1 million in costs, from the settlement money.
The $95 million represents around nine hours of profit for Apple, which reported a net income of $93.74 billion in its most recent fiscal year.
A similar complaint on behalf of Google Voice Assistant customers is proceeding in a federal court in San Jose, California, which is in the same district as the Oakland court. The plaintiffs are represented by the same law firms who handled the Apple lawsuit.
The case is Lopez et al v. Apple Inc., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 19-04577.