ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / NEWS

Apple users could get paid in $95 million settlement over Siri complaints — check if you're eligible

US-based Apple product owners could get paid per device if the settlement is approved.
PUBLISHED JAN 12, 2025
An image showing people outside an Apple store (Cover image source: Pexels| Photo by Hc Digital)
An image showing people outside an Apple store (Cover image source: Pexels| Photo by Hc Digital)

AI assistants are meant to make life easier for people at work and at home, but there have been concerns about privacy, since some devices have been caught collecting details of users without their knowledge. Global tech giant, Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging the company spied on its users through its voice assistant, Siri. The suit claims that Siri recorded private conversations of users without their consent and such conversations were potentially heard by third parties and advertisers. The proposed settlement, as reported by Bloomberg, could pay many US-based Apple product owners up to $20 per device if a judge approves it.



 

Tens of millions of consumers in the US who owned or purchased iPhones and other Siri-equipped devices between September 17, 2014, and the end of 2024, will be eligible to file claims.

While it is yet to be confirmed, users could get $20 for every Siri-enabled device, with a cap on the payments. According to CBS News, the final amount could be affected by the number of claims and how much is claimed to cover legal fees and costs.



 

As per the report, a claims administrator suggested that only 3% to 5% of eligible consumers will file claims, while the lawyers in the case are seeking nearly $30 million in fees and expenses. This figure could be lowered by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, who is overseeing the case in Oakland, California. While the preliminary settlement was filed on December 13, 2024, a court hearing in February 2025 has been proposed to review the final settlement terms. 

The allegations were first made in 2019 when The Guardian reported that Apple employed contractors to listen to Siri recordings of private conversations of users. These conversations included topics such as medical appointments, sex life of users, and drug deals. A whistleblower claimed that while Siri is supposed to be triggered by 'hot words' such as "hey Siri", or "Hello", accidental triggers were common. The informant claimed that something as simple as the sound of a zipper could wake Siri up.



 

Apple admitted that only a small portion of Siri recordings were passed to contractors, and the company later issued a formal apology saying it would no longer retain recordings.  



 

The iPhone maker got into hot water as it did not explicitly state that there was human oversight of the voice assistant or that advertisers did not have access to the recordings. The Cupertino, California-based company issued a statement refuting the allegation in the lawsuit. "Apple does not retain audio recordings of Siri interactions unless users explicitly opt in to help improve Siri, and even then, the recordings are used solely for that purpose," Apple said, according to Reuters. The company further stated that it will continue to develop technologies to make Siri more private. 



 

Apple has also pushed back on the claims that it let advertisers target users based on Siri recordings. “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,” Nadine Haija, an Apple spokesperson told The Verge.

The company stated that the settlement does not mean an admission of guilt. “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," the spokesperson added.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
Seacrest was so astonished that he had to test the contestant's strength right then and there.
17 hours ago
Drew Carey is quite a sensation when it comes to performing viral dance trends.
18 hours ago
The guest initially expected her grandmother's painting to be worth a couple hundred dollars.
19 hours ago
The creators of the show apparently went too far with the joke but tried to make up for it too.
1 day ago
The TikTok creator claimed that the recalled products are widely used by low-income and middle-class families.
1 day ago
The star was stopped midway by his partner while fans loved the look.
1 day ago
Viewers couldn't believe what they saw and some even suggested it could be a prank.
1 day ago
Cuban offered the entrepreneur a "geek to geek" offer that he couldn't refuse.
1 day ago
Reports suggest that the anti-theft measures are causing hostility between shoppers and workers.
2 days ago
Seemed like inflation has been eating into the nuggets sold by Walmart under Great Value.
2 days ago
The entrepreneur shared that it was a habit of his to reward the people who worked hard for him.
3 days ago
Pointing at the shelf full of Great Value Orange Juice, the creator said that the brand is trying to fool people.
3 days ago
For the contestant named Linda, the deal was further sweetened as she got to meet a celebrity.
4 days ago
When it was her turn to play, Mama Doris went blank on the fifth answer costing her team.
4 days ago
She herself couldn't believe that she had come up with a solution that seemed impossible.
4 days ago
Carey called the aspiring actor a 'future star' while celebrating his win on the show.
4 days ago
Kimmel successfully bagged a multimillion dollar deal as well.
4 days ago
He got too close to the contestant but she played along while the audience laughed awkwardly.
5 days ago