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If you owned a Siri-compatible device and had an accidental Siri activation between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024, you could be eligible for a payment from Apple as part of a class action lawsuit settlement.

siri-glow.png

Apple in January agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit involving Siri spying accusations, and a website to distribute the funds has now been set up and those eligible to submit a claim are starting to be informed via email.

Between now and July 2, 2025, U.S. Apple device owners can submit a claim if they had an accidental Siri activation on a Siri-enabled iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, HomePod, iPod touch, or Apple TV during the relevant period. Claims for up to five Siri devices can be submitted, as long as the claimant pledges that each device was part of an accidental Siri activation during a conversation that was meant to be confidential or private.

Settlement class members that submit a valid claim will receive a portion of the net settlement amount, which is capped at $20 per Siri device. The amount that's ultimately awarded could increase or decrease based on the total number of valid claims submitted.

Eligible Apple device owners will be receiving an email or postcard about the settlement, but those who feel they are eligible that did not receive a claim notice can still submit a claim form.

The original lawsuit dates back to 2019, and it was filed after a report indicated that some private conversations of Apple device owners were overheard by contractors evaluating Siri when Siri was accidentally activated. Apple was not secretive about the fact that some Siri recordings were analyzed by humans, but the company's privacy terms at the time did not explicitly state that there was human oversight of Siri, and that third-party contractors were being used.

The initial lawsuit was actually dismissed because there wasn't enough data about the Siri recordings that Apple allegedly collected, but it was refiled with a claim that Apple used Siri recordings for "targeted advertising," and it moved forward.

There is no evidence that Apple has ever provided Siri recordings or information from Siri recordings to advertisers. In a statement to MacRumors earlier this year, Apple confirmed that Siri data has never been used for marketing purposes.
Siri has been engineered to protect user privacy from the beginning. Siri data has never been used to build marketing profiles and it has never been sold to anyone for any purpose. Apple settled this case to avoid additional litigation so we can move forward from concerns about third-party grading that we already addressed in 2019. We use Siri data to improve Siri, and we are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private.
Apple settled the lawsuit in order to avoid further litigation fees, and as part of the settlement, Apple denied "any and all alleged wrongdoing and liability."

Following the 2019 Siri scandal involving contractors listening to accidental Siri recordings, Apple temporarily suspended its Siri evaluation program, stopped using contractors, and implemented options that allow users to delete Siri recordings and block them from being listened to. In later updates, Apple moved some Siri processing on-device, limiting the data that is uploaded to Apple's servers.

After the claim period ends on July 2, there will be a final approval hearing on August 1. At some point after that, the funds will be distributed to Apple customers.

Article Link: iPhone Users Now Able to Submit Claims in $95 Million Siri Spying Lawsuit
 
I got the email today, May 7, 2025. A $20 cap on awards per device - with a maximum of five devices. Once again, all the money goes to the lawyers. It doesn’t matter. I’m not making a claim. While we know some accidental Siri activations occurred, there is (as the MR piece says) no evidence this was done for nefarious purposes and that information was used for “targeted advertising.”
 
Ever since Apple modified Siri to have Apple Intelligence, I have noticed Siri continues to listen especially after I ask it to set a scene. I'll say "Goodnight" and it will do its task and then keep the border around the device active as it's still listening. One time I turned around to see this quite a bit after it completed its command and was able to even offend Siri by cursing it out for listening to me. She responded telling me that I wasn't being nice.
 
I tried to submit a claim but how on earth am I supposed to have a record of the serial number for my iPhone 5 that I was using during that time period?!

I didn't have to enter any serial numbers when completed the claim form. There wasn't even anywhere that it asked for them.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: ZebraDude
I tried to submit a claim but how on earth am I supposed to have a record of the serial number for my iPhone 5 that I was using during that time period?!
It goes all the way up to December 31, 2024. I’m sure most people are just going to use their current serial number. They know everyone is going to make up the whole thing so at least asking for a serial number is probably one way they can show that you owned an Apple device.
 
I got the email today, May 7, 2025. A $20 cap on awards per device - with a maximum of five devices. Once again, all the money goes to the lawyers. It doesn’t matter. I’m not making a claim. While we know some accidental Siri activations occurred, there is (as the MR piece says) no evidence this was done for nefarious purposes and that information was used for “targeted advertising.”

More money for the lawyers.

the lawyers do.

$95 million minus lawyer fees divided by billions of devices eligible for this.... we'll be lucky to get $1

95 million, lawyer fees included is a bargain… if it was Epic’s lawyers, I guess you’d owe them about $5,000,000.

Really though, this lawsuit would never exist in the first place if it weren’t likely to achieve class action status. Each person’s injury is too small alone to support a lawyer. Remember, a primary justification for reduced regulation is the private civil remedy; class action lawsuits keep corporations in check, and fortunately or unfortunately, that means someone has to prosecute them and take the risk of 0$.
 
Ever since Apple modified Siri to have Apple Intelligence, I have noticed Siri continues to listen especially after I ask it to set a scene. I'll say "Goodnight" and it will do its task and then keep the border around the device active as it's still listening. One time I turned around to see this quite a bit after it completed its command and was able to even offend Siri by cursing it out for listening to me. She responded telling me that I wasn't being nice.
Just say thank you and she turns right off. I watched Downton Abbey and you learn how to dismiss servants. 😀😀
 
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