Apple Settles Lawsuit Alleging Siri Recorded and Shared Private Conversations

Apple’s Siri voice assistant has been reportedly recording customers’ personal conversations and letting third parties listen to them. As such, a class action lawsuit was filed against the company for the alleged breach of privacy. To settle the suit, the iPhone maker has offered $95 million.

Any U.S. person who purchased or owned an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, iPod Touch, Apple TV, MacBook, iMac, or HomePod anytime between Sept. 17, 2014, and Dec. 31, 2024, is eligible for a part of the settlement funds.

The final amount each customer receives depends on how many make claims and how many Siri-enabled devices are owned. It’s estimated that customers will see about $20 per device, according to CNN.

The lawsuit alleges Siri activated and recorded conversations even though users did not speak the wake phrase “Hey, Siri.” Voice assistants like Siri and Amazon’s Alexa are not supposed to react unless a “hot word” or phrase is spoken by the user.

Class Action Lawsuit Against Apple

In 2019, news broke that third-party Apple contractors were able to access the recorded conversations of Siri users. Some very sensitive events were allegedly captured and heard, including discussions of medical histories, private moments between couples, and purportedly even drug deals.

Apparently, at the time, Apple did share user recordings with outside parties to evaluate Siri’s responses, including whether the voice assistant was intentionally activated and if Siri’s response was appropriate. It was supposedly an effort to help Siri recognize and understand what someone was saying.

“Siri responses are analyzed in secure facilities and all reviewers are under the obligation to adhere to Apple’s strict confidentiality requirements,” the iPhone maker told The Guardian.

Later, Apple issued an apology for the alleged breach of privacy. Additionally, the company suspended the program and recommitted to “protecting user privacy.” Recordings were also supposedly deleted. Regardless, the tech giant was met with a class action lawsuit in 2021.

The company has not admitted any wrongdoing but chose to settle the lawsuit, nonetheless. The proposed offer of $95 million still needs approval by a U.S. district court in California.