Apple has agreed to pay $95 million in settlement to deal with a lawsuit accusing the company of using its virtual assistant Siri to eavesdrop on people using its iPhone and other trendy devices.
The settlement reportedly filed on Tuesday in Oakland’s federal court in California is set to bring closure to the 5-year-old case claiming that Apple clandestinely recorded conversations through iPhones and other Siri-equipped devices for over 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, reported news agency AP.
The lawsuit could be considered a major setback to Apple, which has been building the brand on its commitment to protest the privacy of its customers — a crusade that CEO Tim Cook often framed as a fight to preserve “a fundamental human right”.
Apple, however, has not acknowledged any snooping attempts or wrongdoing in the settlement that still awaits US district judge Jeffrey White’s approval.
Lawyers in the case have proposed scheduling a February 14 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 September 17, 2014, through the end of last year could file claims.
Each consumer could receive up to $20 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, AP reported citing estimates in court documents.
The attorneys who filed the lawsuit may seek up to $29.6 million from the settlement fund to cover their fees and other expenses, according to court documents.
Notably, the settlement constitutes only a tiny fraction of the $705 billion Apple earned as profit since September 2014. Eligible consumers will be limited to seeking compensation on a maximum of five devices.