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The
proposed settlement filed Tuesday in an Oakland, California,
federal court would resolve a 5-year-old lawsuit revolving
around allegations that Apple surreptitiously activated Siri to
record conversations through iPhones and other devices equipped
with the virtual assistant for more than a decade.
The alleged recordings occurred even when people didn't seek to
activate the virtual assistant with the trigger words, “Hey,
Siri." Some of the recorded conversations were then shared with
advertisers in an attempt to sell their products to consumers
more likely to be interested in the goods and services, the
lawsuit asserted.
The allegations about a snoopy Siri contradicted Apple's
long-running commitment to protect the privacy of its customers
— a crusade that CEO Tim Cook has often framed as a fight to
preserve “a fundamental human right.”
Apple isn't acknowledging any wrongdoing in the settlement,
which still must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey
White. Lawyers in the case have proposed scheduling a Feb. 14
court hearing in Oakland to review the terms.
If the settlement is approved, tens of millions of consumers
who owned iPhones and other Apple devices from Sept. 17, 2014,
through the end of last year could file claims. Each consumer
could receive up to $20 per Siri-equipped device covered by the
settlement, although the payment could be reduced or increased,
depending on the volume of claims. Only 3% to 5% of eligible
consumers are expected to file claims, according to estimates in
court documents.
Eligible consumers will be limited to seeking compensation on a
maximum of five devices.
The settlement represents a sliver of the $705 billion in
profits that Apple has pocketed since September 2014. It's also
a fraction of the roughly $1.5 billion that the lawyers
representing consumers had estimated Apple could been required
to pay if the company had been found of violating wiretapping
and other privacy laws had the case gone to a trial.
The attorneys who filed the lawsuit may seek up to $29.6
million from the settlement fund to cover their fees and other
expenses, according to court documents.
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