Did you have a Siri-compatible device and have an accidental Siri activation sometime between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024, you could be eligible for a piece of the action from Apple, as a part of a class action lawsuit settlement.
Back in January, Apple agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit that claimed Siri spied on Apple device users. A website has finally been set up to allow affected Apple customers to submit a claim, and eligible users are beginning to be informed via email. (If you haven’t received an email and believe you’re entitled to a piece of the settlement pie you can still submit a claim. More about that later.)
U.S. Apple device owners have until July 2, 2025 to submit a claim if they had an acciental Siri activation on their Apple device, including an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, iPod touch, HomePod, or Apple TV during the covered September 17, 2014 – December 31, 2024 timespan.
Users can submit claims for up to five Siri-capable devices, although claimants will have to cross their heart that each device accidentally activated Siri during a private or confidential or private conversation. (Thaat’s all of us, right?)
Settlement claimants that have a valid claim will receive a small piece of the net settlement amount (what’s left after the lawyers get their chunk), which is capped at $20 per Siri device. Keep in mind that the amount that is actually paid out could decrease or increase, based on the total number of claims submitted. (Let’s be honest, the amount will almost assuredly decrease.)
Eligible Apple device owners will receive either an email or a postcard informing them of the settlement. However, those that are not contacted but believe they are eligible can still submit a claim form.
The original lawsuit was filed back in 2019, after a news report indicated that some Apple device owners’ private conversations were heard by contractors hired to evaluate why Siri was accidentally activated. While Apple had been upfront about using humans to analyze some Siri recordings, the Cupertino firm’s privacy terms at that time did not explicitly inform users that there was third-party contractor oversight of Siri.
While the recordings did not contain any personally identifiable user data at a digital level, many o the recordings did include personal information, due to what was recorded during the conversations, While Apple did not save identifying information like an Apple ID, IP addresses, or device identifiers, many of the recordings included personal information such as names, addresses, credit or debit card information, and more.
As is usual for settlements like this, Apple has denied any wrongdoing, and is simply paying out the $95 million to make the whole thing go away without an extended and costly court battle. As part of the settlement, Apple denied “any and all alleged wrongdoing and liability.”
An initial lawsuit was dismissed, due to a lack of data about the Siri recording that Apple had allegedly collected. However, the lawsuit was refiled with a claim that Apple used Siri recording for targeted advertising and a judge allowed the lawsuit to proceed.
It shoud be noted that there is no evidence indicatiing that Apple ever provided Siri recordings or related information to advertisers.
Once the program was exposed, Apple temporarily suspended the Siri evaluation program, no longer used third-party contractors, and put measures into place that allows users to delete Siri recordings and block them from being listened to. Apple also later moved some Siri processing to on-device, meaning less information was being sent to Apple’s servers.
One the claim period ends on July 2, a final approval hearing will be held on August 1. Sometime later, the settlement funds will be distributed to the valid claimants.
