Apple pays $95 million in Siri spy lawsuit

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Technology giant Apple Google on Thursday agreed to pay $95 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant Siri violates users’ privacy.

A Initial settlement It was arraigned Tuesday night in federal court in Oakland, California, which will be subject to approval by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.

The mobile device owners who filed the complaint alleged that Apple routinely recorded private conversations after they inadvertently activated Siri. Those conversations were then disclosed to third parties, including advertisers who served some users ads tailored to the conversations they had, the lawsuit added.

Voice assistants like Siri can open in response to certain verbal prompts that include “hot words” like “Hey, Siri.”

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Two plaintiffs claimed that their mention of Air Jordan sneakers Olive Garden restaurants encouraged them to receive targeted advertising for those products.

Another plaintiff alleged that he received advertisements for a brand-name surgical treatment after discussing it in what he believed was a private conversation with his doctor.

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Class members, estimated to number in the tens of millions, could receive up to $20 for each Siri-enabled device they own, such as iPhone and Apple watches. The Class Period runs from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024, and began when Siri integrated the “Hey, Siri” feature.

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Apple Inc banner. At the company’s store on Fifth Avenue in New York, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Photo by: Michael Nagel/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Apple denied any wrongdoing in approving the settlement.

The $95 million settlement equates to about nine hours of profit for Apple, which had net income of about $93.74 billion in its most recent fiscal year.

The lawyers are seeking fees of up to $28.5 million, plus $1.1 million in expenses, as compensation from the settlement fund.

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A similar lawsuit is pending on behalf of users Google Voice Assistant In federal court in San Jose, which is part of the same district where the Oakland court is hearing the Apple case. The plaintiffs in the Google case are represented by the same companies as in the Apple case.

Reuters contributed to this report.



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