Apple, the world’s most valuable company, has agreed to pay $95 million in cash to settle a proposed class action lawsuit claiming that its Siri digital assistant violated users’ privacy.
Jonathan Stempel for Reuters:
A preliminary settlement was filed on Tuesday night in the Oakland, California federal court, and requires approval by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.
Mobile device owners complained that Apple routinely recorded their private conversations after they activated Siri unintentionally, and disclosed these conversations to third parties such as advertisers.
Two plaintiffs said their mentions of Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden restaurants triggered ads for those products. Another said he got ads for a brand name surgical treatment after discussing it, he thought privately, with his doctor.
The class period runs from Sept. 17, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2024. It began when Siri incorporated the “Hey, Siri” feature that allegedly led to the unauthorized recordings…
The $95 million is about nine hours of profit for Apple, whose net income, opens new tab was $93.74 billion in its latest fiscal year.
MacDailyNews Takee: Class members, which may number in the tens of millions, may receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device. Apple denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.
How many Siri-enabled devices do you own? Let’s see: all of our Macs, iPads, iPhones, Apple Watches, AirPods, HomePods, and Apple TVs. Hey Siri, at $20 a pop, those are going to add up to quite a decent chunk of change!
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Where do I go to claim my $140?
Where do I go to claim my $140? Oh, forgot about my watch! $160?
When is it going to be confirmed and, or accepted, that AAPL is one of those that abscond with THEIR customer’s info?
So many of our politicos want to increase taxes on Corps…make them “pay their fair share” (whatever “fair share” means) and are disingenuous/careless/ignorant to believe the extra cost won’t be levied on the purchasers). At the same time few of those mouthpieces give a flying F about these Corps using customer info for their own gain and putting indi’s at risk.