What to know about Apple’s $95 million settlement in the Siri snooping case

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of turning its virtual assistant Siri into a snoop eavesdropping on users of iPhones and other trendy devices in a betrayal of its longstanding commitment to privacy.

The proposed settlement filed in federal court earlier this week still needs to be approved by a judge, but here are a few things to know about the case and the privacy issues it raised.

WHAT WAS THE COURT ABOUT?

The Wood Law Firm, which specializes in class actions, filed the complaint against Apple in August 2019, shortly after The Guardian newspaper published an article alleging that Siri’s microphone had been secretly turned on to record conversations that took place without users’ knowledge.

Apple issued a September 2014 software update that was supposed to activate the virtual assistant only with the trigger words “Hey, Siri,” but The Guardian story alleged that Siri was listening and recording conversations at other times to help improve the company’s technology.

The story led to the lawsuit, which later raised allegations that Apple shared some of the conversations Siri secretly recorded with advertisers seeking to connect with consumers who were more likely to buy their products and services.

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE COVERED BY THE SETTLEMENT?

Tens of millions of US consumers who owned or purchased iPhones and other devices equipped with Siri from September 17, 2014 to the end of last year will be eligible to file claims.

HOW MUCH MONEY DOES EACH QUALIFIED CONSUMER GET?

It’s far too early to say for sure, but the settlement currently envisions paying out up to $20 per share. Siri-enabled device, with each consumer limited to a maximum. The final amount can be affected by two factors: the number of claims and how much of the settlement fund is reduced to cover attorneys’ fees and costs.

One claims administrator estimates that only 3% to 5% of eligible consumers will file claims. Attorneys in the case are currently seeking nearly $30 million in fees and expenses, but that figure could still be lowered by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, who is overseeing the case in Oakland, California. A proposed hearing on February 14 has been proposed to review the terms of the settlement.

DID APPLE BECOME ANY LAW?

If the allegations were true, Apple may have violated federal wiretapping laws and other laws designed to protect people’s privacy. But Apple vehemently denied any wrongdoing and maintained that it would have been cleared of any wrongdoing if the case had gone to trial. Lawyers representing consumers argued that Apple’s misconduct was so egregious that the company could have been liable for $1.5 billion in damages if it lost the case.

Although Apple has not explained its reasons for entering into the settlement, large companies often decide that it makes more sense to settle class-action lawsuits rather than continue to rack up legal costs and risk the chance of potentially bad publicity. The lawsuit also targeted one of Apple’s core values, framing privacy as a “fundamental human right.”

While $95 million sounds like a lot of money, it’s small change for Apple. Since September 2014, the company’s total profits have exceeded $700 billion — a streak of prosperity that has helped propel the company’s market capitalization to around $3.7 trillion.

SHOULD I BE WORRIED ABOUT THE MICROPHONES ON OTHER DEVICES SPYING ON ME?

Perhaps. A case similar to the one filed against Siri is still active in federal court in San Jose, California, against Google and the virtual assistant in its Android software, which has been widely used in smartphones for years.

HOW DO I DISABLE SIRI just in case?

You can turn off Apple’s virtual assistant by following these simple steps:

1. Navigate to Settings Siri & Search.

2. Turn off Listen for ‘Hey Siri’ and press the side button for Siri.

3. Tap Turn off Siri when a pop-up window appears.

You can also disable individual apps’ access to your iPhone’s microphone by doing the following: Navigate to Settings (select the app), then turn off Microphone.