Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed its devices, like the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, were listening to people without their permission.
The lawsuit accused Apple of eavesdropping through its virtual assistant, Siri, and sharing voice recordings with advertisers to target users with specific ads. The tech company denies these allegations but has agreed to settle to avoid a longer, riskier court case.
The case involved Fumiko Lopez, who claimed she and her daughter were recorded without their consent when they activated Siri unintentionally.
They also allege that after discussing products like Air Jordans, they began seeing targeted ads. Apple has said that it has permanently deleted Siri recordings collected before October 2019.
In the settlement, those affected could receive up to $20 for each Siri-enabled device they owned between 2014 and 2019. Apple’s lawyers deny wrongdoing and have settled to avoid a bigger payout if the case had gone to trial.
This is just one of many class action lawsuits Apple has been involved in, including a $500 million lawsuit for slowing down iPhones and another in the UK for issues with its iCloud service. A similar case is also underway against Google.
This settlement, though not an admission of guilt, is an effort by Apple to avoid further legal complications. (Source: BBC)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4rvr495rgo