Apple has reached a $95 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of breaching user privacy through unintentional recordings made by its voice assistant, Siri.
The settlement, pending approval in federal court, addresses claims that Siri improperly captured and stored sensitive conversations without user consent. According to Reuters, eligible U.S. customers may claim up to $20 per Siri-enabled device purchased between 2014 and 2024, with compensation capped at five devices per individual.
Allegations of Privacy Violations
The lawsuit, filed in 2019, alleged that Siri’s voice activation system frequently recorded conversations inadvertently, often triggered by mistaken voice commands or background noise.
Plaintiffs argued that these recordings, which included private and sensitive discussions, were collected and possibly used for targeted advertising, though Apple denies these claims.
Whistleblower testimony published in The Guardian in 2019 revealed troubling details about Siri’s evaluation process. Contractors tasked with improving Siri’s accuracy allegedly overheard confidential conversations. One whistleblower described hearing “recordings featuring private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, seemingly criminal dealings, sexual encounters, and so on” and noted that these recordings were often accompanied by user data such as location and app usage.
The lawsuit further highlighted users’ suspicions that targeted ads were linked to Siri recordings. Plaintiffs reported seeing advertisements for products they had discussed privately, such as Air Jordan sneakers or specific restaurants, shortly after those conversations.
Settlement Details and Compensation
The $95 million settlement applies to U.S. consumers who owned Siri-enabled devices, including iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, MacBooks, HomePods, and more, during the specified period.
Eligible users will be notified following the court’s approval, with claims accepted until mid-2025. Each individual can receive up to $20 per device, depending on the number of claims submitted.
Apple stated that the settlement was reached to avoid further litigation costs and did not constitute an admission of wrongdoing. In a legal filing, the company reiterated: “Apple continues to deny any and all alleged wrongdoing and liability, specifically denies each of the Plaintiffs’ contentions and claims, and continues to deny that the Plaintiffs’ claims and allegations would be suitable for class action status.”
While the plaintiffs sought greater damages, legal representatives acknowledged the inherent challenges of privacy litigation. “This is a developing area of law, imposing inherent risks that a new decision could shift the legal landscape as to the certifiability of a class, liability, and damages,” they noted in the motion to approve the settlement.
Apple’s Response and Privacy Reforms
In response to the controversy sparked by the whistleblower revelations, Apple suspended its Siri evaluation program in 2019 and introduced a series of privacy reforms. Among these changes was the implementation of an opt-in system for Siri recordings, allowing users to consent to having their data reviewed. Apple also added tools to delete Siri recordings and introduced on-device processing for certain voice recognition tasks.
On-device processing enables Siri to analyze and execute commands directly on the user’s device rather than transmitting data to Apple’s servers, thereby reducing privacy risks. Apple emphasized that any data collected during the evaluation process was anonymized, removing identifiable information to protect user privacy.
Despite these measures, critics argue that the initial lack of transparency damaged consumer trust. While Apple’s marketing emphasizes user privacy as a core value, incidents like the Siri case highlight the challenges of maintaining those standards in practice.
Wider Implications and Related Cases
Apple’s Siri case is not an isolated incident in the tech industry. Similar lawsuits have been filed against other companies, including Amazon and Google, over alleged privacy violations involving voice assistants. The legal team representing the Siri plaintiffs is currently pursuing a parallel case against Google, accusing its Google Assistant of similar unintentional recordings.
These cases underscore the broader challenges faced by companies developing voice-activated technologies. The need to balance technological advancements with consumer privacy remains a contentious issue. Experts suggest that the outcomes of such lawsuits could shape future privacy regulations and influence how tech companies handle user data.
