A class action lawsuit that has been going on for several years against Apple due to unwanted recording of Siri content has now ended with the payment of a fine. The responsible federal court in Oakland, California approved the out-of-court settlement with a total payment of US$95 million (92.38 million euros). The court previously ruled in September 2021 that the civil lawsuit stood – however, Apple tried to have it dismissed (Lopez et al. v. Apple Inc., US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 19-04577). .
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As is typical in such settlements, defendant Apple did not admit guilt. This amount is also relatively small; For example, Apple has already had to pay millions due to hardware errors. The money goes not only to the participants in the lawsuit and other affected parties, but also to the lawyers who initially pursued the class action lawsuit. How much is actually left per capita is still unclear.
Since the introduction of “Hey Siri”
The so-called class period, i.e. the phase in which claims exist, extends from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024. It is currently planned that these people, provided they are residents in the United States, will receive “up to $20”. Get it. But the amount may be less. It will be paid for a Siri-enabled device. Goes – like the iPhone or the Apple Watch, up to $29.6 million will go to the lawyers. Reuters news agency writesThe $95 million matches approximately nine hours of profit that Apple generates according to its latest data.
Child safety: Apple gives AirTags better labelsThe class action lawsuit covers the entire phase in which the so-called “Hey Siri” function was activated – the voice assistant has since been summoned with this “watch word” or “hot word”. Unwanted recordings were said to be made “regularly”, which were used – in some cases – for AI training, including eavesdropping by company employees.
The lawsuit against Google continues
Apple had appointed its own department for this purpose, but it was later fired. As part of the class action lawsuit, it was also alleged that Apple could have given private conversations to third parties such as advertisers – however, this has not been proven. Some users claimed to have seen ads related to private conversations on the web. However, it is likely that about a deception act.
The class action lawsuit is expected to involve millions of people across the United States. The company did not comment on the decision. Since 2019, the group has implemented an opt-in function with which users can, if they wish, agree to their voice training Siri – but many users are unlikely to do so. Meanwhile, a similar lawsuit is pending against Google over possible spying on Google Assistant.
(B.Sc.)
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