Apple to pay $95m to settle Siri listening case

Apple has agreed to pay $95m (£77m) to settle a court case that some of its devices listened to people without their consent.

The tech giant was accused of listening to its customers through its assistant Siri.

The plaintiffs allege that the recordings were distributed by advertisers.

Apple, which has denied any wrongdoing, has been asked for comment.

In initial conflict, The technology company denies any wrongdoing, and claims that it “recorded, disclosed to third parties, or failed to delete, conversations recorded as a result of the activation of Siri” without permission.

Apple’s lawyers also said that they have confirmed that they will “permanently delete Siri music that Apple collected in October 2019”.

But the plaintiffs say the tech company recorded people who activated the assistant without knowing it – without using the words “Hey, Siri” to wake it up.

And he says advertisers who received the recordings could target keywords to target ads.

Apple filed a lawsuit on February 14 in a court in Oakland, California.

Class-action lawsuits deal with a small number of people going to court instead of a large group.

If successful, the winnings are awarded to all applicants.

According to court documents, each plaintiff – who lives in the US – can be paid up to $20 for each Siri-enabled device they owned between 2014 and 2019.

In this case, the lawyers can take 30% of the fee plus expenses – which is just under $30m.

By settling, Apple not only denies wrongdoing, but also avoids the risk of facing a lawsuit that could mean a large payout.

A California company earned $94.9bn in the three months until 28 September 2024.

Apple has been involved in several lawsuits in recent years,

In January 2024, it started paying in a $500m case which it said deliberately limited iPhones in the US.

In March, it agreed to pay $490m in a classroom led by Norfolk County Council in the UK.

And in November, buyers group Which? launched a class action against Apple, accusing it of ripping off customers through its content iCloud service.