Apple will pay $95 million to settle lawsuit accusing Siri of spying

OAKLAND, California. – Apple agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit that accuses the privacy-conscious company of deploying its Siri virtual assistant to spy on people using its iPhone and other fashion devices.

What we know:

The proposed agreement, presented Tuesday in a Oakland A federal court could resolve a five-year lawsuit revolving around allegations that Apple surreptitiously enabled Siri to record conversations across iPhones and other devices equipped with the virtual assistant for more than a decade.

The alleged recordings occurred even when people were not seeking to activate the virtual assistant with the trigger words “Hey, Siri.” Some of the recorded conversations were then shared with advertisers in an attempt to sell their products to consumers more likely to be interested in the goods and services, the lawsuit claims.

The allegations about a nosy Siri contradicted Apple’s long-standing commitment to protecting its customers’ privacy, a crusade that CEO Tim Cook has often framed as a fight to preserve “a fundamental human right.”

Apple It does not acknowledge any irregularities in the agreement, which must still be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White. Attorneys in the case proposed scheduling a court hearing on Feb. 14 in Oakland to review the terms.

Who is eligible?

If the settlement is approved, tens of millions of consumers who owned iPhones and other Apple devices from September 17, 2014 through the end of last year could file claims.

How much money could claimants receive?

Each consumer could receive up to $20 per Siri-equipped device covered by the settlement, although the payment could be reduced or increased, depending on the volume of claims.

Only 3% to 5% of eligible consumers are expected to file claims, according to estimates contained in court documents.

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Eligible consumers will be limited to seeking compensation on a maximum of five devices.

The deal represents a fraction of the $705 billion in profits Apple has pocketed since September 2014. It’s also a fraction of the roughly $1.5 billion that lawyers representing consumers had estimated Apple would have to pay if the company had been found to have breached the wiretaps. and other privacy laws had taken the case to trial.

The lawyers who filed the lawsuit can request up to $29.6 million from the settlement fund to cover their fees and other expenses, according to court documents.