Source: NurPhoto / Getty / Apple / Siri
If Siri recorded your private conversation, you can expect a payment as part of a $95 million Apple settlement agreement.
Spotted on The Verge, Apple has agreed to a $95 million settlement with users whose conversations were “inadvertently” recorded by Apple’s intelligent voice assistant, Siri, and listened to by human employees.
Bloomberg reports that pending approval by a judge, eligible parties could receive up to $20 per device for up to five Siri-enabled devices.
Per The Verge:
If approved, the settlement would apply to a subset of US-based people who owned or bought a Siri-enabled iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac, HomePod, iPod touch, or Apple TV between September 17th, 2014 and December 31st, 2024. A user would also need to meet one other major criteria: they must swear under oath that they accidentally activated Siri during a conversation intended to be confidential or private. Individual payouts will depend on how many people claim the money, so if you apply, you could end up receiving less than the $20 maximum cap.
The Origins of The Class Action Lawsuit
The class action lawsuit against Apple began as a result of the 2019 report from The Guardian claiming Apple third-party contractors “regularly hear confidential medical information, drug deals, and recordings of couples having sex” while working on Siri quality control.
A whistleblower revealed that even though Siri activates using wake words, there were occasions where that was not the case, noting something as simple as the sound of the zipper could activate Siri.
In response to The Guardian’s report, Apple said only a few Siri recordings go to contractors. It also apologized and vowed to stop keeping recordings.
In the lawsuit, a minor and other plaintiffs said that Siri recorded them on various occasions, sometimes without them even saying a word.
Apple is not alone. Google is also involved in a similar lawsuit.
