Apple to pay $95m to settle Siri ‘listening’ lawsuit

Apple has agreed to pay $95m (£77m) to settle a court case alleging that some of its devices were listening to people without their permission.

The tech giant was accused of spying on its customers through its virtual assistant Siri.

The claimants also alleged that voice recordings were shared with advertisers.

Apple, which has not admitted any wrongdoing, has been contacted for comment.

In initial settlement, The tech firm denies any wrongdoing, also claiming it “recorded, disclosed to third parties, or failed to delete” conversations that were recorded as a result of Siri activation without consent.

Apple lawyers also say they will confirm that they have “permanently deleted personal Siri audio recordings collected by Apple prior to October 2019”.

But claimants say the tech firm recorded people who activated the virtual assistant inadvertently — without using the phrase “Hey, Siri” to wake it up.

And they say advertisers who received the recordings could search for keywords in them to better target ads.

Apple has proposed a judgment date of February 14 in court in Oakland, California.

Class action lawsuits work by a small number of people going to court on behalf of a larger group.

If they are successful, the money won is given to all the contenders.

According to court documents, each claimant – who must be based in the US – could be paid up to $20 per Siri-enabled device they owned between 2014 and 2019.

In this case, the attorneys may take 30% of the fees and expenses – which comes to a little less than $30 million.

By settling, Apple not only denies wrongdoing, but also avoids the risk of facing a court case, which could potentially mean a much larger payout.

California company earned $94.9 billion In three months till 28 September 2024.

Apple has been involved in several class action lawsuits in recent years,

In January 2024, it started paying $500 million lawsuit In which it was claimed that it had deliberately slowed down the iPhones in America.

This was agreed upon in March pay $490 million In a class action led by Norfolk County Council in the UK.

And in November, which consumer group? Launched a class action against Apple accusing it of defrauding customers through its iCloud service.