By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – Apple has agreed to pay $95 million in cash to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging its voice-activated Siri assistant violated user privacy.
The preliminary settlement was filed Tuesday night in federal court in Oakland, California, and requires the approval of U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.
Mobile device owners complained that Apple routinely recorded their private conversations after they inadvertently activated Siri and disclosed those conversations to third parties such as advertisers.
Voice assistants typically respond when people use “hot words” like “Hey, Siri.”
The two plaintiffs said their mentions of Air Jordan sneakers and the Olive Garden restaurant triggered ads for those products. Another said he got ads for the brand’s surgical treatment after discussing it, he thought privately, with his doctor.
The class period runs from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024. It began when Siri implemented a “Hey Siri” feature that allegedly led to the unauthorized recordings.
Class members, estimated to be in the tens of millions, can receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, such as iPhones and Apple Watches.
Apple denied wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based company and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to similar requests. They can seek up to $28.5 million in compensation, plus $1.1 million in costs from the settlement fund.
The $95 million is about nine hours of profit for Apple, whose net income was $93.74 billion in the last fiscal year.
A similar lawsuit on behalf of users of Google’s (NASDAQ: ) voice assistant is pending in federal court in San Jose, California, in the same district as the Oakland court. The plaintiffs are represented by the same law firms as in the Apple case.
The case is Lopez et al v. Apple Inc (NASDAQ:)., US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 19-04577.
