Apple pays $95 million to settle Siri listening case

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

The technology giant was accused of eavesdropping on its customers through its virtual assistant, Siri.

The claimants also allege that audio recordings were shared with advertisers.

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

in preliminary settlement, The technology company denies any wrongdoing, and claims it “recorded, disclosed to third parties, or failed to delete recorded conversations as a result of Siri activation” without consent.

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

But the claimants say the technology company recorded people inadvertently activating the virtual assistant, without using the phrase “Hey Siri” to wake it.

They say advertisers who receive the recordings can then search for keywords in them to better target ads.

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

Class actions are operated by a small number of people who go to court on behalf of a larger group.

If they are successful, the money won will be paid out to all claimants.

Each claimant — who must be a US resident — could receive up to $20 for each Siri-enabled device they owned between 2014 and 2019, according to court documents.

In this case, the attorneys can get 30% of the fees plus expenses – which amounts to just under $30 million.

By settling, Apple not only denies any wrongdoing, but also avoids the risk of facing a lawsuit that could mean paying much more money.

California company He earned $94.9 billion During the three months until September 28, 2024.

Apple has been involved in a number of class-action lawsuits in recent years.

In January 2024, payment began $500 million lawsuit which claimed to have intentionally slowed down iPhones in the US.

In March, she agreed Paid $490 million In a class action led by Norfolk County Council in the United Kingdom.

In November, consumer group Which? A class action lawsuit has been initiated against Apple, accusing it of stealing customers through its products iCloud service.