Apple agrees to $95 million privacy settlement

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that its Siri assistant recorded private conversations and shared them with third parties.

The proposed lawsuit alleges that the audio data was disclosed without users’ consent to a network of third-party marketers and advertisers.

We talked about this 5 years ago when we first realized that Siri was eavesdropping on us. Users complained of being targeted on their Apple devices with advertisements for products concerning sensitive and very specific matters discussed in private conversations, when Siri had been activated by accident.

Settlement agreement
According to court documents, Apple is set to create a $95 million non-reversionary fund to cover payments to class members, attorney fees, awards for class representatives, and administrative costs.

The settlement applies to all U.S. based current or former owners of Siri-enabled devices, like iPhones, iPads, and Macs, whose communications were obtained or shared without consent due to unintentional Siri activations between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024. Class members can claim up to $20 per Siri-enabled device for up to five devices.

The preliminary approval hearing is scheduled for February 14, 2025 and if the case moves forward, there will be a claims submission deadline set to 135 days, on June 29, 2025.

In addition to the monetary aspect of the settlement, Apple is also required to permanently delete all Siri audio recordings obtained while in violation of the said laws within six months after the settlement’s effective date.

In the future, Apple is also expected to provide clear and easily understandable disclosures about how users can manage Siri settings to protect their data from unintentional disclosure.

It is important to note that this is a proposed settlement. Depending on what objections are raised and how the court will handle them, the final form may contain adjusted or even rejected terms.

Putting Siri to sleep
Even though Siri is integral to Apple software, users can take steps to adjust its sensitivity or restrict its usage from certain apps.

The first step would be to disable the voice-based “Hey Siri” activation through your device’s settings by toggling off the ‘Listen for Hey Siri’ option. On the Apple Watch, ‘Raise to Speak’ is a similarly risky setting to enable.

You should regularly delete Siri and dictation history via ‘Settings > Siri & Search > Siri & Dictation History’ to wipe potentially sensitive data.

As of January 3^rd, Apple was worth $3.68 Trillion. What will you do with your $20 windfall???

Thanks to Bleeping Computer for this update