The proposed settlement filed in a US court would resolve a 5-year-old lawsuit revolving around allegations that Apple surreptitiously activated Siri to record conversations through iPhones and other devices equipped with the virtual assistant for more than a decade.
Apple has agreed to pay $95m (€92.4m) to settle a lawsuit accusing the privacy-minded company of deploying its virtual assistant Siri to eavesdrop on people using its iPhone and other devices.
The proposed settlement, filed earlier this week in a federal court in California, would resolve a 5-year-old lawsuit revolving around allegations that Apple surreptitiously activated Siri to record conversations through iPhones and other devices equipped with the virtual assistant for more than a decade.
The alleged recordings occurred even when people didn’t seek to activate the virtual assistant with the trigger words: “Hey, Siri”. Some of the recorded conversations were then shared with advertisers in an attempt to sell their products to consumers more likely to be interested in the goods and services, the lawsuit asserted.
The allegations about a snooping Siri appeared to contradict Apple’s long-running commitment to protect the privacy of its customers – a crusade that CEO Tim Cook has often framed as a fight to preserve “a fundamental human right”.
Offer still need legal go-ahead
Apple does not acknowledge any wrongdoing in the settlement, which must still be approved by US District Judge Jeffrey White. Lawyers in the case have proposed scheduling a 14 February court hearing in Oakland to review the terms.
If the settlement is approved, tens of millions of consumers who owned iPhones and other Apple devices from 17 September 2014, through the end of last year could file claims. Each consumer could receive up to $20 (€19.5) per Siri-equipped device covered by the settlement, although the payment could be reduced or increased, depending on the volume of claims. Only 3% to 5% of eligible consumers are expected to file claims, according to estimates in court documents.
Eligible consumers will be limited to seeking compensation on a maximum of five devices.
The settlement represents a minute amount of the $705bn (€685.5bn) in profits that Apple has made since September 2014. It’s also a fraction of the roughly $1.5bn (€1.46bn) that the lawyers representing consumers had estimated Apple could been required to pay if the company had been found of violating wiretapping and other privacy laws had the case gone to a trial.
The lawyers who filed the lawsuit may seek up to $29.6m (€28.8m) from the settlement fund to cover their fees and other expenses, according to court documents.
