Apple agrees to $95M settlement in privacy lawsuit over Siri recordings

Apple has settled a class action lawsuit for $95 million that accused its Siri voice assistant, powered by AI, of invading users’ privacy. The settlement, filed Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, California, will require approval by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.

According to a Reuters report, the lawsuit said Apple’s AI assistant, Siri, allegedly recorded private conversations without consent.

These recordings, which were allegedly shared with third parties like advertisers, were accidentally triggered by phrases sounding like “Hey, Siri.” Plaintiffs said this resulted in targeted ads for topics they had talked about privately.

One plaintiff mentioned Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden and noticed ads related to the brand. Another plaintiff mentioned a specific surgical treatment he’d discussed with his doctor before receiving ads for that treatment.

The alleged violations occurred from September 17, 2014, to December 31, 2024, beginning when Apple first introduced the ‘Hey, Siri’ feature, leading to unauthorized recordings.

$95M equals about nine hours of profit for Apple

If approved, the settlement would be distributed among tens of millions of eligible Siri users. Those affected could be paid up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, such as iPhones or Apple Watches.

However, Apple denied any wrongdoing and agreed to the settlement. Furthermore, Apple and the company’s lawyers also declined to comment on the settlement.

The settlement fund may allow the plaintiffs’ attorneys to receive $28.5 million in legal fees and $1.1 million in expenses.

The payout amounts to about nine hours of profit for Apple, which reported a net income of $93.74 billion in the last fiscal year.

It mirrors another lawsuit filed against Google in San Jose, California, which accuses Google’s Voice Assistant of the same privacy concerns. The same legal teams represent plaintiffs in both cases.