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Tech giant Apple Apple on Thursday agreed to pay $95 million to settle a proposed class action lawsuit claiming its Siri voice assistant violated users’ privacy.
A initial settlement The motion was filed Tuesday night in a federal court in Oakland, California, subject to approval by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.
Mobile device owners who brought complaints alleged that Apple had inadvertently recorded private conversations on a regular basis after activating Siri. The lawsuit says those conversations were disclosed to third parties, including advertisers who showed some users ads that were tailored to their conversations.
Voice assistants like Siri can be opened in response to certain verbal prompts including “hot words” such as “Hey, Siri.”
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Apple (Joe Riddle/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Two of the plaintiffs claimed that they referred to air jordan sneakers And Olive Garden restaurants had inspired them to receive targeted advertising for those products.
Another plaintiff alleged that she received advertisements for a brand-name surgical treatment because she discussed it during a private conversation with her doctor.
| anchor | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | Apple Inc. | 243.36 | -0.49 |
-0.20% |
Class members, estimated to number in the millions, could receive up to $20 for each of their Siri-enabled devices, such as iPhones and Apple WatchesThe class period runs from September 17, 2014, to December 31, 2024, and began when Siri added the “Hey, Siri” feature.
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Apple Inc. signage at the company’s Fifth Avenue store in New York on Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Apple has denied wrongdoing by agreeing to the settlement.
The $95 million settlement is equivalent to about nine hours of profit for Apple, which had net income of about $93.74 billion in its latest fiscal year.
Lawyers are seeking $28.5 million in fees and $1.1 million in expenses from the settlement fund.
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A similar lawsuit is pending on behalf of users Google’s voice assistant In a federal court in San Jose, which is part of the same district as the Oakland court handling the Apple case. The plaintiffs in the Google case are represented by the same firms as in the Apple case.
Reuters contributed to this report.
