American computer and consumer electronics company, Apple, has agreed to pay $95m to settle a court case alleging that some of its devices were listening to people without their permission.
The company was accused of eavesdropping on its customers through its virtual assistant Siri, who was activated without customers using the phrase ‘Hey Siri’, and claimants also allege that voice recordings were shared with advertisers.
In the preliminary settlement, Apple denies any wrongdoing, as well as claims that it “recorded, disclosed to third parties, or failed to delete, conversations recorded as the result of a Siri activation” without consent.
Apple’s lawyers also say they will confirm they have “permanently deleted individual Siri audio recordings collected by Apple before October 2019”.
The lead plaintiff Fumiko Lopez claims she and her daughter were both recorded without their consent and were served targeted ads after talking about products.
