Apple to Shell Out $95 Million to Settle Siri Spying Lawsuit [Updated]

[steve09090]

Apple agree to pay out $98m but according to some on here they've done absolutely nothing wrong. Now I appreciate this is small change to Apple but big, profitable companies do not pay out this sort of money unless a. they know they have done something wrong and being. they believe that a court will impose a far, far higher penalty.

So they've decided to pay out for nothing then?

Why do people come on here just to twist the words of other people? I’ll explain it to you again! There are outcomes in the court that depend on things going right for the prosecution and the defence (or plaintiff and defence) to get their desired result. Part of it is based on the evidence and part are the judge/jury, and the way the arguments are presented. It seems there was definitely a 'case to answer' in this situation, which doesn’t mean guilt, it means there is enough for someone to have to decide (don’t twist my words there or make up more b.s.). Maybe Apple don’t want everything to be disclosed in the course of a trial even if they aren’t guilty, or maybe there is a level of guilt there? There could be a dozen reasons. I don’t know and if you aren’t a part of the case, neither do you.

It is estimated that IF Apple did actually lose a lengthy trial (which is always a possibility), that it would cost them $1.5B. So they settled. Any speculation on why is pure stupidity and they should probably just go watch Judge Judy.

 

[MacAddict1978]

Interesting, will we find out that:

1) Apple did in fact allow recordings to go to advertisers (Edit for clarification: I doubt this!)

or

2) Are other apps, that have access to the microphone, sending info to advertisers

I am leaning towards #2.

Or 3. Read article - APPLE (AKA APPHOLE) sent recordings from SIRI... NOT third party apps using a permission someone would have given the app to access their microphone to illegally record and send recordings to themselves. The Apple Siri recordings are on APPLE servers. Sent from APPLE to ADVERTISERS.

Who couldn't believe Apple would do this? Privacy is a marketing stunt for them. Their address is really One Apple Loopholes and not Apple Loop.

 

[steve09090]

Or 3. Read article - APPLE (AKA APPHOLE) sent recordings from SIRI... NOT third party apps using a permission someone would have given the app to access their microphone to illegally record and send recordings to themselves. The Apple Siri recordings are on APPLE servers. Sent from APPLE to ADVERTISERS.

Has anyone actually shown that they were sent to advertisers? Wondering, because shills are saying this but I haven't seen it.

Who couldn't believe Apple would do this? Privacy is a marketing stunt for them. Their address is really One Apple Loopholes and not Apple Loop.

Saying this is really just spreading lies. Unless you have some proof of this, it's just bs propaganda.

Not a single advertiser ever, has ever said, ever, that they have received personal data from Apple ever, ever ever.

 

[Tagbert]

… The Apple Siri recordings are on APPLE servers. Sent from APPLE to ADVERTISERS….

Apple sent some Siri recordings to contractors hired to review erroneously triggered Siri events to help refine Siri’s triggering code. There is zero evidence that Apple sent any Siri recordings to advertisers, the opposition lawyers inflammatory statements, notwithstanding.

 

[Parowdy]

No, that is not what I said.

When other apps are installed you are generally asked to give permissions, like BT, Mic, Camera, Photos, etc. Once you give permission for, lets say Facebook, to access the mic who knows what Facebook does with that permission. Another example would be Whatscrap, when you install that you are asked to give permission to your contact list. Aside from what they claim to do with it, which is to let your contacts know you are on WA, what else do they do with that access? Do they feed that to FB to help with the shadow accounts they are known to have on people that are not even on FB?

If you have given an app access to anything on your device they removes Apple from the equation.

My point is, people are jumping the gun on this particular case. Apple indeed provided recordings to third parties for analysis, this was never disputed iirc. Where people are making a huge jump is that this also somehow proves that Apple sells user data, which they claim not to.

If I give an app access to my mic or camera, that access is restricted to when I use the app, maybe a widget, and if the mic or camera are in use by ANY app, a green or orange dot will appear on the top of the screen, together with some information on what app used what in the Control Center, so Apple is not out of the equation…
They introduced the indicators and they developed the tools apps can use when they aren’t in use.

WA uses contact info so you don’t have a bunch of numbers without names everywhere. I don’t dismiss the claim that FB/Meta uses this info. But that was not what this thread was about.
It is about either
1. Apple selling data they claim they didn’t
2. Apple allowing apps to process data from the mic without any indication while said apps are not in use

Data permission and camera and mic permission are different things.

 

[Parowdy]

And your proof that that was happening is…?

Uhm, I have none because I wasn’t the one saying Apple did anything.

 

[Tagbert]

Uhm, I have none because I wasn’t the one saying Apple did anything.

I think we swooshed past each other on those posts. Sorry if I misunderstood what you were saying.

 

[SARABMB]

I have read the thread and the comments. For context and before you fight me, I am a strong long-time Apple supporter and strongly believe Apple has always made privacy a priority. However, even with that, I cannot deny that this lawsuit and settlement makes Apple look guilty.

Yes, I understand that wanting to settle does not mean you are guilty, because a settlement could save the company so much time and money. Also, I realize that there’s so much in play, including who the jury members are and the judge, which creates risk, thus making a settlement sounds appealing. I fully understand all of this. However, I still think it is very suspicious that Apple decided to go with the settlement because this huge privacy breach claim can ruin the reputation forever and would create so much doubt for consumers, making it worth it to invest extra money and resources to fight this lawsuit if they were innocent. If there is no evidence against them showing that they sold peoples data to third-parties, I believe from a business perspective it is a good investment (even if it means losing money) to fight this case and prove their innocence. This will strengthen the brand reputation for years to come and will maintain their customer base. And they have the best lawyers who could fight this case easily if they were truly innocent.

At the end of the day, I’m not saying they are guilty. We do not have the facts or the full story. But I can say that their move to settle is foolish and makes them look suspicious.

 

[I7guy]

I have read the thread and the comments. For context and before you fight me, I am a strong long-time Apple supporter and strongly believe Apple has always made privacy a priority. However, even with that, I cannot deny that this lawsuit and settlement makes Apple look guilty.

Yes, I understand that wanting to settle does not mean you are guilty, because a settlement could save the company so much time and money. Also, I realize that there’s so much in play, including who the jury members are and the judge, which creates risk, thus making a settlement sounds appealing. I fully understand all of this. However, I still think it is very suspicious that Apple decided to go with the settlement because this huge privacy breach claim can ruin the reputation forever and would create so much doubt for consumers, making it worth it to invest extra money and resources to fight this lawsuit if they were innocent. If there is no evidence against them showing that they sold peoples data to third-parties, I believe from a business perspective it is a good investment (even if it means losing money) to fight this case and prove their innocence. This will strengthen the brand reputation for years to come and will maintain their customer base. And they have the best lawyers who could fight this case easily if they were truly innocent.

At the end of the day, I’m not saying they are guilty. We do not have the facts or the full story. But I can say that their move to settle is foolish and makes them look suspicious.

Corporations that settle lawsuits are nothing out of the norm. I do not think settling makes apple look suspicious, but I understand everybody’s viewpoint is different.

 

[meaty]

If you think that means Apple can spy easily on him then you are wrong.

You obviously never heard of Edward Snowden