AIexpress – Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a civil complaint alleging that the privacy-conscious business used its virtual assistant Siri to spy on people using its iPhone and other popular gadgets.
The proposed settlement, filed Tuesday in an Oakland, California, federal court, would end a 5-year-old lawsuit alleging that Apple secretly activated Siri to record conversations on iPhones and other devices equipped with the virtual assistant for over a decade.
The purported recordings were place even when people did not attempt to activate the virtual assistant using the trigger words “Hey, Siri.” According to the lawsuit, some of the recorded conversations were shared with marketers in order to pitch their products to people who were more likely to be interested in the goods and services.
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The revelations about a snoopy Siri contrasted Apple’s long-standing commitment to protecting its customers’ privacy — a crusade that CEO Tim Cook has frequently described as a war to maintain “a fundamental human right.”
Apple does not admit any wrongdoing in the deal, which must still be authorized by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White. Lawyers in the lawsuit have recommended a February 14 court hearing in Oakland to evaluate the terms.
If the settlement is accepted, tens of millions of customers who possessed iPhones and other Apple products between September 17, 2014, and the end of last year could file claims. Each user might get up to $20 for each Siri-enabled device covered by the settlement, though the amount could be decreased or raised based on the volume of claims. Estimates in court records suggest that only 3% to 5% of eligible consumers will make claims.
Eligible consumers will be able to request reimbursement for a maximum of five gadgets.
The payment represents a fraction of Apple’s $705 billion revenues since September 2014. It’s also a fraction of the approximately $1.5 billion that consumer lawyers predicted Apple could be obliged to pay if the firm was found to have violated eavesdropping and other privacy laws had the case gone to trial.
According to court filings, the attorneys who brought the action may demand up to $29.6 million from the settlement money to pay their legal fees and other expenses.