Jan. 2 (UPI) — Apple officials have offered a $95 million settlement to end a class action lawsuit over alleged invasion of privacy issues with Apple’s Siri virtual assistant.
The settlement offer was filed Tuesday night in the U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland and addresses the legal action filed in 2019 by owners of Apple mobile devices, including its popular iPhone and Apple Watch.
The plaintiffs say Apple’s Siri virtual assistant recorded their private conversations after unintentionally activating the app.
The surreptitious recordings allegedly were disclosed to advertisers and other third parties for review.
Apple said its Siri app only became active upon users saying, “Hey, Siri,” but a whistleblower in 2019 reported the Siri app sometimes became active upon hearing similar words or sounds, such as zippers opening and closing, and other background noises.
After unintentionally becoming active, Siri often recorded conversations and other activities, include sexual relations and drug deals, that the owners of respective Apple products did not intend to be heard, the plaintiffs allege.
One plaintiff said her Apple devices at times recorded her daughter after she mentioned brand names, like Air Jordan and Olive Garden, which led to the targeted placement of ads while using Apple’s Safari web browser.
Another plaintiff said he discussed a surgical procedure with his doctor and afterward received advertisements for surgical treatments by medical services brands.
The plaintiff said the unintended recordings violated their privacy despite Apple’s marketing claims of protecting users’ privacy.
The proposed plaintiff class includes tens of millions of owners of Apple products with the Siri virtual assistant, including iPhones and Apple Watches, from Sept. 17, 2014, through 2024.
Each person would receive $20 for each Siri-enabled Apple device that they owned during that period.
Apple officials admit to no wrongdoing in the settlement offer but agreed to delete any recordings made prior to October 2019 and update instructions for users who want to share data with Siri to improve its service.
Northern California U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White must approve the settlement.
