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Apple has moved to settle down a five-year lawsuit over Siri privacy. Reuters reports that the verdict was handed down on Tuesday in Oakland, CA. The company agreed to pay $95 million to class members, who are said to be millions of owners of Siri devices. US District Judge Jeffrey White must approve the ruling before it becomes official.
The lawsuit stems from a 2019 report on Apple’s quality control contracts They can hear a lot of secrets accidentally recorded by a voice assistant “Hey Siri” feature. The videos allegedly contained medical, criminal and “sexual” information. Reuters Apple reportedly denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle the lawsuit.
Engadget has reached out to Apple for comment. We will update this story if we hear back.
Two plaintiffs said their unwitting posts about Nike Air Jordans and Olive Garden restaurants led to them receiving advertisements for those products. After talking to her doctor, one complainant said she received advertisements for surgical drugs.
After the original story broke five plus years ago, Apple clarified its privacy policy and emphasized that the recordings were not linked to Apple accounts. It said its quality control teams study the footage in a “secure environment” and adhere to “non-disclosure agreements.”
After an internal review, Apple he canceled the program and admitted that it “wasn’t meeting” his expectations. The company went back and reviewed Siri’s recording recently – but with a big change. They say fired hundreds of quality control contractors and changing its policy so that only Apple employees can view Siri’s private information. Also moved to delete unknowingly triggered audio clips and started requires user login share Siri drawings or notes.
Reuters it is estimated that the $95 million in cash provided is equivalent to approximately nine hours of the company’s profits. (Great job if you can find it.) The regular class period begins on September 17, 2014 – when Apple launched “Hey Siri” in iOS 8 – through December 31, 2024. If you own a Siri-enabled smartphone by then (and Judge White upholds the ruling), you can get up to $20 per device. However, you have to enter the class, and it is not yet clear how to do it.
