Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the privacy-conscious company of deploying its virtual assistant Siri. eavesdrop It is aimed at people who use iPhones and other trendy devices.
The settlement, filed Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, resolves a five-year-old lawsuit centered on claims that Apple secretly enabled Siri to record conversations on iPhones and other devices equipped with the virtual assistant for more than a decade. It will be.
The alleged recordings occurred even when people did not attempt to activate the virtual assistant with the command “Hey Siri.” Some of the recorded conversations were shared with advertisers to sell products to consumers. They are interested in goods and services, the lawsuit claims.
Snoopy’s claims about Siri contradict Apple’s long-standing promises. protect privacy CEO Tim Cook has often described this as a fight to protect “basic human rights.”
Apple does not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, which still must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White. Attorneys in the case have proposed scheduling a court hearing for Feb. 14 in Oakland to review the terms.
If the settlement is approved, tens of millions of consumers who owned iPhones and other Apple devices between September 17, 2014 and the end of last year could file claims. Each consumer could receive up to $20 per Siri-powered device under the settlement, but payments could be reduced or increased depending on the number of claims. According to court documents, only 3 to 5 percent of eligible consumers are expected to file a claim.
Eligible consumers can claim compensation for up to five devices.
This agreement represents only a portion of the $705 billion in profits Apple has earned since September 2014. That’s just a fraction of the roughly $1.5 billion that lawyers representing consumers estimate Apple would have to pay if it’s found guilty of wiretapping violations. And under other privacy laws, the case went to trial.
Lawyers filing the suit could seek up to $29.6 million in the settlement to cover fees and other costs, according to court documents.
