Siri was listening! Apple to pay $95 million for sharing private conversations

In a case still subject to court approval, Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit about Siri, its voice assistant, listening to private conversations without permission. According to theWall Street Journal, people found that Siri would sometimes turn on by itself and record private talks, which were then shared with Apple. These recordings included sensitive information, such as medical details that people didn't want others to hear. Reuters puts the $95 million payout into context: It's equivalent to what Apple earns in a standard workday, based on the company's previous year of profits.

WSJ states that the settlement would require Apple to delete all Siri voice recordings they collected before October 2019. The tech giant will also have to explain better to its users how they can choose to help improve Siri's performance.

While Apple denies doing anything wrong, this isn't the first time Siri has caused privacy concerns. The Wall Street Journal notes that back in 2019, Apple had to stop using contractors to review Siri recordings after a British newspaper revealed these workers were regularly hearing users' private information.

The story behind this case goes back to 2011, when Apple first put Siri on its iPhones. Later, they made it easier to use Siri by adding the "Hey Siri" wake-up command to many Apple devices. However, this convenient feature led to problems when Siri would activate without users meaning to turn it on. The lawsuit claims these accidental activations resulted in private conversations being recorded and shared without people's knowledge or permission.

Judge Jeffrey White of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is overseeing this case. According to The Wall Street Journal, this settlement shows how big tech companies are being held accountable for protecting user privacy, especially when it comes to voice-activated technology which can accidentally capture private moments.

Siri was listening! Apple to pay $95 million for sharing private conversations