Hey Siri, do I get a payout? Apple’s $95 million settlement could make users eligible for some cash

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Apple's Siri has been accused of secretly recording conversations, according to a lawsuit. While the tech giant has not admitted to any wrongdoing, it has agreed to pay $95 million to settle the case, as per an AP report. The lawsuit, which has been going on for five years, claims that Apple activated Siri without users’ permission and recorded their conversations even when they didn’t say “Hey Siri” to trigger the assistant.

What was the Siri spying lawsuit about?

The lawsuit claimed that Apple had been secretly recording conversations through Siri on iPhones, iPads, and other devices equipped with the voice assistant for over a decade. The suit also argued that the recordings were shared with third-party advertisers, allowing them to target users with ads for products based on their private conversations. This practice contradicts Apple's claims of safeguarding privacy and protecting users' personal data, which became a central point of the case.

Are iPhone users eligible for compensation?

Apple has not admitted to any wrongdoing but agreed to settle the lawsuit for $95 million. If the settlement is approved by a judge, millions of consumers who owned Siri-equipped devices such as the iPhones, iPads etc between September 2014 and the end of 2023 could be eligible for compensation. Each eligible person could receive up to $20 for each device they owned during this period, though the final amount may vary depending on the number of claims submitted.

The settlement amount is relatively small compared to Apple’s $705 billion in profits since 2014, but it allows the company to avoid a lengthy and expensive trial. Legal experts estimate that the fine could have been as high as $1.5 billion if the case had gone to court. The attorneys representing the consumers in the case may also receive up to $29.6 million in legal fees, as per a report by Associated Press.