Apple to pay $95 million in Siri lawsuit settlement

Apple $95 million settlement in siri lawsuit

FOX 13's Kylie Jones spoke with legal experts about the case and how it could impact you.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Are your devices actually listening in on you?

A lawsuit against Apple claimed some users’ devices were listening when they unintentionally activated the voice assistant, ‘Siri.’

Apple denied wrongdoing but could pay $95 million in a proposed settlement.

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The lawsuit, first filed in 2019, alleged some users’ Apple devices were recording people’s confidential communication without their consent.

iPhone's on display.

According to the lawsuit, the users said this happened after they unintentionally activated Siri.

"The basis of it was, the plaintiffs were saying that Siri was beginning to record their conversations when they accidentally use the word ‘Siri’," Dale Appell, an attorney who’s not affiliated with the lawsuit, said.

According to FOX Business, a preliminary settlement was filed last week at a federal court in Oakland, California.

"How many times have you been having a conversation with somebody and you've mentioned something, and then you get a targeted ad for it?" Frank Kerney, Managing Partner at The Consumer Lawyers, said. "And that's exactly what they're alleging in the lawsuit: they were having a conversation about Air Jordan sneakers, for example. Next thing they knew, they got an ad for Jordan sneakers."

The lawsuit claimed that the conversations were disclosed to third parties, including advertisers, after the users accidentally triggered Siri.

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"They're listening for that trigger word so that they know that they need to act and respond," James McQuiggan, a security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, said. "And so, they're not necessarily always recording, but they're always listening."

Appell says it appears there wasn’t evidence that Apple was intentionally doing this, though.

"The other issue that came up, likely in resulting in this settlement, was that the evidence that Apple had was only based upon plaintiff experience," Appell said. "So, there were certain plaintiffs who may have said, ‘Well, I don't have any direct evidence. It's just, how the heck is it that I mentioned so and so brand in my household, and the next day, so and so brand shows up in my Facebook or in my Apple social media?"

Apple denied wrongdoing and agreed to the settlement.

"Siri has been engineered to protect user privacy from the beginning. Siri data has never been used to build marketing profiles, and it has never been sold to anyone for any purpose," an Apple spokesperson told FOX Business. "Apple settled this case to avoid additional litigation so we can move forward from concerns about third-party grading that we already addressed in 2019. We use data to improve Siri, and we are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private."

iPhone being held.

Apple also told FOX Business that Siri data has never been used to compile marketing profiles or sold for that purpose.

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According to FOX Business, class members, estimated to number in the tens of millions, may receive up to $20 for each Siri-enabled device they own, such as iPhones and Apple Watches. The class period runs from Sept. 17, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2024, and began when Siri incorporated the "Hey, Siri" feature.

McQuiggan calls data the new gold.

"I think one of the things that we all have to be aware of is, if there’s any technology or any service or anything that's on the Internet, any website we're visiting, any social media, if it's free, we're most likely the product," McQuiggan said.

McQuiggan says all technology users should be aware of privacy concerns when using these devices.

"A lot of the time we, as consumers, we see that pop up and go, ‘Yeah, okay, next, I accept, whatever and move on,’" McQuiggan said. "Sadly enough, it's those that need to be improved so that we can quickly and very easily understand what information is being collected and see that firsthand, without having to siphon through 96 pages."

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The proposed settlement could be a small price for the tech giant.

New iPhone being held.

"It could have been bad if a smoking gun was found," Appell said. "And so, for $95 million to put this aspect, this issue behind Apple, I think it would be considered a win for Apple."

Kerney says this also sends a message to consumers moving forward.

"Now, there's going to be specific options to opt in to this technology with Google, with Apple," Kerney said. "But, I think we all need to be cognizant of it, and we might want to switch off the settings that allow them to record these conversations, to use our microphone if we want to have privacy. If you're okay with them using your information to target you with advertisements, then by all means, use it and be accepting of the results that you get. But, if you don't want to be targeted with those kind of advertisements, you certainly should turn the technology off and not opt in moving forward."

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According to FOX Business, a similar lawsuit is pending for users of Google’s Voice Assistant in a federal court in San Jose.

Kerney says he wouldn’t be surprised if we continue to see similar lawsuits involving other companies in the future.

"I think we're all sort of buying into this technology and allowing ourselves to be listened in on," Kerney said. "We just have to hope that it's being done responsibly by these corporations we're giving access to."

A California judge is expected to review the motion for the proposed settlement in February.

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