Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit that accuses its digital assistant Siri of listening to users’ private conversations.
The proposed settlement detailed in a court filing accessed Thursday came with Apple firmly maintaining that it did nothing wrong.
“Apple has at all times denied and continues to deny any and all alleged wrongdoing and liability,” the tech titan said in the proposed settlement, which requires a judge’s approval to finalize.
A class-action lawsuit filed five years ago accused Siri of listening to private conversations of people with iPhones, iPads, HomePods or other Apple devices enhanced with the digital assistant.
The California-based tech giant has made user privacy an important part of its brand image, which is one of the reasons it tightly controls its hardware and software “ecosystem.”
Apple obtained the captured conversations by “inadvertently activating Siri” and perhaps even shared them with third parties, according to the lawsuit.
A proposed settlement fund of $95 million would be used to pay no more than $20 per Siri device to U.S. owners who have captured private conversations without permission, the agreement stated.
The agreement also requires Apple to confirm that it has deleted any overheard conversations and to clearly state user choices regarding voice data collected to improve Siri.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2023, Amazon agreed to pay more than $30 million to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to resolve litigation that accused the company of violating privacy with its Ring Doorbell cameras and Alexa digital assistant.
