After five years of legal tussle, Apple has finally agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit that accused it of eavesdropping on people via its virtual assistant, Siri. The settlement, filed on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, in a federal court in Oakland, California, has drawn wide attention.
The settlement agreement is currently sitting at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. There, it awaits the approval of U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White. The lawyers involved in the case have also planned a hearing on February 14. During this hearing, they will have the opportunity to review the facts of the agreement.
If the settlement gets the nod of the judge, tens of millions of people could benefit from it. These are the number of customers who have used Apple devices such as iPhones from September 17, 2014, till the end of 2024.
If a large number of the customers involved file claims, then each would get $20 for every Siri-powered Apple device they owned. This also means that the amount could increase if fewer customers turn up and reduce if more customers than expected file claims.
However, estimates in the court document foresee only a small fraction of the affected persons responding to the suit. According to the prediction, only 3, 4, or 5% of affected customers are expected to take advantage of this Apple class action lawsuit 2019. The agreement also limits the settlement per customer to five devices.
What Was the Apple Class Action Lawsuit About?
Five years ago, a number of Apple customers filed a class action lawsuit alleging violations of privacy laws. They accused the tech giant of using Siri to listen in on customer conversations on the iPhone and other Virtual Assistant-enabled devices. However, the company has denied the claims.
Although the tech company admitted that it is possible to listen to Siri recordings, it did not concede to employing humans to listen and analyze these conversations. According to the plaintiffs, they wouldn’t have bought the Siri-enabled devices if they had known that it would record their private conversations.
Although Apple still maintains its innocence, it is only happy to see the contention go away. Also, the agreed settlement amount is a small fraction of what it could have paid if it lost the case. The plaintiff’s lawyers were looking at a $1.5 billion settlement if the trial had gone their way.
That also was nothing compared to the $705 billion that the California-based company made during the period under scrutiny. Yet, not all the money agreed will go to settling customers. About $30 million will settle the plaintiff’s lawyer’s fees and other costs they incurred.
What Led to Apple’s iPhone Lawsuit in 2019?
The Apple iPhone lawsuit in 2019 followed a report by the UK-based newspaper The Guardian. The media outlet had accused the company of paying contractors to feast on recordings of conversations. These conversations took place after users activated the virtual assistant.
The newspaper also disclosed that the company’s contractors gleaned private information, which they fed to advertisers. This information includes sexual encounters, medical appointments, and illegal activity. The Apple lawsuit accused the company of refusing to inform customers that they were being recorded.
Multiple plaintiffs testified that after mentioning the names of some products, their devices began to show adverts for those products. Two of them stated that they began to get adverts for Air Jordan shoes after they discussed the products while Siri was activated.
Another user said that after discussing details of a surgical treatment with his doctor, he began to get medical adverts. Also, many of these conversations happened without customers using the two-word activation – “Hey, Siri.” These accusations are in sharp contrast to Apple’s repeated assurances of customer privacy.
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Apple Lawsuit Settlement: Apple Releases Statement
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been vocal about what he touts as the company’s respectful privacy policy. The company’s website quoted him as referring to customers’ privacy as “freedom of expression” and “human rights.”
“Our human rights policy governs how we treat everyone—from our customers and teams to our business partners and people at every level of our supply chain,” the website stated. The website also claimed to “collect only the minimum amount of data necessary to provide our users with a product or service.”
Reacting to the accusations, Apple released a statement via email. “Siri data has never been used to build marketing profiles,” the statement read. “It has never been sold to anyone for any purpose,” it continued. “We use Siri data to improve Siri, and we are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private.”
Speaking further, the statement explained the reason they agreed to a settlement—to avoid any ripple litigation. “So we can move forward from concerns about third-party grading that we already addressed in 2019,” it read.
Getting Your Money Back: About Apple Lawsuit’s Claim Form
Every Apple customer who owned a Siri-enabled Apple device from September 17, 2024, to December 31, 2024, is eligible for a slice of the Apple lawsuit huge payout. But only those who are based in the United States can make a claim.
Also, prospective beneficiaries will have to take an oath declaring that their Apple virtual assistant was activated accidentally. They will also swear that Siri recorded their private conversations. Within the space of 44 days, there will be a website with a form where you can file your claim before May 15, 2025.
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