Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to users who claim they were spied on through the virtual assistant Siri and some of the company’s devices.
These devices allegedly recorded users’ voices and granted access to recordings to advertising firms without permission, according to BBC.
Apple did not admit guilt in the lawsuit initiated by Fumiko Lopez and her daughter. They claim they were recorded without their consent and subsequently exposed to targeted ads after discussing products, including Air Jordans.
The company denies that it "recorded, disclosed to third parties, or failed to delete recorded conversations as a result of Siri activation" without users' consent.
Apple's lawyers argued that, on the contrary, they "permanently deleted individual Siri audio recordings collected by Apple before October 2019."
However, the claimants allege that Apple recorded users who accidentally activated Siri without using the phrase "Hey, Siri!" They also claim that personalized ads were directed based on keywords found in these unauthorized recordings.
In this context, Apple has reached an agreement with users in the lawsuit initiated by Fumiko Lopez and her daughter to avoid the risk of a trial that could lead to an even larger compensation obligation.
The agreement proposes that each claimant (who must be from the US) receive up to $20 for each Siri-enabled device they had between 2014 and 2019.
The lawyers may collect 30% of the amount plus expenses, totaling nearly $30 million.
Apple has been involved in several class-action lawsuits in recent years, including in January 2024 when it began paying out in a $500 million lawsuit alleging intentional slowing down of iPhones in the US.
In March, it agreed to pay $490 million in a lawsuit initiated by the Norfolk County Council in the UK. Additionally, in November, the consumer group Which? filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of deceiving customers through its iCloud service.
Google faces similar lawsuits, accused of wrongfully recording users with its devices.