Apple to pay $95 million to settle claims it used Siri to eavesdrop on customers

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News/AP

January 2, 2025 / 5:20 PM EST


Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a civil lawsuit accusing the privacy-minded company of deploying its virtual assistant Siri to eavesdrop on people using its iPhone and other trendy devices.

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.

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Apple to stop Siri program that lets contractors listen to users' voice recordings

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."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/siri-civil-lawsuit-settlement-apple-iphone-eavesdropping/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Among the reasons I only use my cell phone to

text or make actual phone calls. It was obvious to me from the very start that these "assistants" were more than that.

[mwmisses4289]

2. File this under

the "No s**t, Sherlock" heading.

[snot]

3. The surveillance via cell phones is off the charts.

I keep my settings as privacy-protective as possible, avoid using it for anything but phone calls and texts that I wouldn't mind having be overheard and for taking photos; and try not to share my cell number if I can possibly avoid it.

But it's getting harder and harder to avoid sharing the number -- everyone's trying to acquire/require it even when completely unnecessary, supposedly for our protection! Which infuriates me, because the cell phone is just about the least secure device ever invented, and the only security breaches I've ever suffered were when companies I gave my data to were hacked -- and the more of my personal data a co. has, the more will be stolen.

[JoseBalow]

4. I love my flip phone

[Attilatheblond]

5. I miss mine.

[kimbutgar]

6. I have never used Siri either!

Too much of Hal for my taste!

[Xipe Totec]

9. Two OT factoids for you:

First, take the letters of HAL and choose the next letter in the alphabet after each. That spells... IBM

Second, the programming language created by IBM to program the onboard computers for the Space Shuttle was named HAL. It stands for Heuristic Algorithm Language.

[BaronChocula]

11. Meanwhile

I can't trust siri to set a timer for the right time I specified, let alone open a pod bay door.

[Snoopy 7]

16. read the article

The article stated that Apple was doing it without the persons permission and, they mentioned that Apple allowed "corporations" to listen to peoples Siri. You don't have to use it the Apple Siri app is on your phone. I guess Apple loaded the corporations permission during one of the updates. Afterall they probably don't tell you everything the updates will do just what they want you to know.

[OldBaldy1701E]

7. And I had to listen to all those people who swore that could not happen!

Kids... they will figure it out one day... LOL.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

8. Is anyone going to prison? If not why not?

I’m pretty sure recording conversations is a felony in like every state and federally.

Why the fuck don’t we lock up the people who authorized this shit?

[FakeNoose]

10. I'd like to know who gets the $95 million from Apple?

It's not me because I've never owned anything made by Apple. But friends and family members do, and they've demonstrated Siri to me several times. I said I'd never have anything like that in my house or in my life - ever!

[tonekat]

12. On several occasions

Siri has responded to nothing.

[werdna]

13. WOW!!! $95 million.

Did they look under the couch cushions in the executive lounge to cover that much?

[speak easy]

14. "Some of the recorded conversations were then shared with advertisers"

unlikely. very unlikely.

[Aussie105]

15. Nothing to see here.

Siri, and a few other intelligent devices, just listen in all the time just to educate their language models and learn different accents.

'Hey Google! I'm right, don't you agree?'

My little UFO shaped thing agrees with me . . .

[ShepKat]

17. one of the reasons I have a flip phone

call, text, an occasional picture... that's it.