This week Apple agreed to pay out $95 million (approximately £77 million / AU$153 million) due to privacy violations involving Siri, the iPhone manufacturer's voice-activated assistant.
According to the lawsuit, launched in 2019, the company recorded tens of millions of conversations while users believed that Siri was deactivated, including sensitive medical information. The case also claims that Apple then shared this information with third parties, as users noticed targeted advertisements for products and services specific to those conversations pop up on their devices.
Apple has neither confirmed nor denied that it sold information to third parties, an act that makes up a large part of the lawsuit. But UK newspaper The Guardian, which first revealed the privacy breach, reported that Apple was employing contractors to listen to the illicit Siri recordings.
In a, rather rich, statement released by Apple on January 08 2025, the tech giant said it was "committed to protecting user data… privacy is a foundational part of the design process, driven by principles that include data minimization, on-device intelligence, transparency and control, and strong security protections that work together to provide users with incredible experiences and peace of mind."
Apple added:
"This applies to all of our products and services, including Siri, which has been engineered to protect user privacy and is the most private digital assistant.
"Apple has never used Siri data to build marketing profiles, never made it available for advertising, and never sold it to anyone for any purpose. We are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private, and will continue to do so."
Those affected by the privacy breach will be eligible for a payout of $20 (£16 / AU$32). You must live in the US, be able to prove that you owned a Siri-enabled device between September 14 2012 and December 31 2024, and swear under oath that you experienced Siri activating without your consent, and that targeted ads appeared as a result.
Apple has proposed a decision date of February 14 2025 in the Californian court. A website to confirm this will be set up within 45 days, and you then have until May 15 2025 to file your claim.
If this hasn't put you off Apple products, why not take a look at our guides to the best iPhone for photography, the best camera phone, and the best lenses for iPhone and Android camera phones.
