Apple has agreed to a $95 million settlement to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging that its virtual assistant, Siri, surreptitiously recorded users’ conversations without their knowledge or consent, The Associated Press reports.
The proposed settlement, filed Tuesday in a California federal court, addresses claims that Apple violated user privacy by activating Siri to record conversations even when the “Hey Siri” trigger phrase was not used.
The lawsuit, which has been ongoing for five years, contended that these recordings, made over a period of more than a decade, were sometimes shared with advertisers for targeted marketing purposes. This alleged behavior directly contradicts Apple’s public commitment to user privacy, a principle often championed by CEO Tim Cook.
While Apple does not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, the agreement, which requires approval from U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, could see tens of millions of consumers who owned eligible Apple devices between September 17, 2014, and the end of 2023 potentially receive compensation. A court hearing has been tentatively scheduled for February 14 to review the terms.
Under the settlement, affected consumers could claim up to $20 per Siri-equipped device, although this amount may fluctuate based on the number of claims filed. Estimates suggest that only 3% to 5% of eligible consumers will file claims, with a limit of five devices per person.
The $95 million settlement is a relatively small portion of Apple’s $705 billion in profits since September 2014, and is also considerably less than the $1.5 billion that consumer lawyers estimated Apple could have been liable for if the case had gone to trial and been found to have violated wiretapping and other privacy laws.
The lawyers who brought the suit are seeking up to $29.6 million from the settlement fund to cover legal fees and other expenses.
