Settlement reached

Apple pays 95 million dollars to those eavesdropped on by Siri

The class action followed a 2019 report that Apple's external contractors regularly listened in on Siri calls.

(Bild: APA/dpa/Alexander Heinl)

Apple has agreed to a settlement of 95 million US dollars (around 92.4 million euros) in the USA with users whose conversations were inadvertently recorded by its voice assistant Siri and possibly overheard by human employees. However, the compensation for individual victims is unlikely to be particularly large.

The proposed settlement could provide many US-based owners of Apple products with up to 20 dollars per device, whereby claims can be made for a maximum of five Siri-enabled devices. However, the settlement must first be approved by a judge.

If approved, the settlement would apply to a subset of US residents who owned or purchased a Siri-enabled iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac, HomePod, iPod touch or Apple TV between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024.

According to "The Verge", users would also have to fulfill another important criterion: They must swear under oath that they accidentally activated Siri during a conversation that was supposed to be confidential or private.

The individual payouts ultimately depend on how many people claim the money. Under certain circumstances, those affected could end up receiving less than the maximum limit of 20 US dollars.

Regularly overheard
The original class action lawsuit against Apple followed a 2019 report in the UK Guardian, which alleged that Apple's external contractors were "regularly eavesdropping on confidential medical information, drug deals and recordings of couples having sex" while working on Siri's quality control.

Although Siri is supposed to be triggered by an intentional activation word, one whistleblower said that accidental triggers were common, and claimed that something as simple as the sound of a zipper could "wake up" Siri.

Apple countered at the time that only a small portion of Siri recordings were shared with contractors, but later officially apologized and let it be known that no audio recordings would be kept from then on.

The plaintiffs in the Apple lawsuit - one of whom was a minor - claimed that their iPhones had recorded them using Siri several times, sometimes even without having uttered an activation word.

Similar lawsuit pending against Google
Apple was not the only company accused of listening to confidential recordings. Google and Amazon also use contractors who listen to recorded conversations, including accidentally recorded ones. A similar lawsuit is pending against Google.