Apple Could Pay Out To Tens of Millions of Americans [Video]

Apple has agreed to make a $95 million cash settlement over a class action lawsuit that alleges its voice activation assistant Siri violated user privacy. The tech giant has denied wrongdoing in the case.

Why It Matters

Concern around data collection and voice activation assistants, installed on a plethora of modern-day smartphones, computers, and speakers, has been ongoing for some time. The lawsuit alleges that “confidential or private communications were obtained by Apple and/or were shared with third parties without their consent as a result of an unintended Siri activation.”

The allegations contradict Apple’s dedication to user privacy, a principle that company CEO Tim Cook has previously advocated as “a fundamental human right.”

What To Know

Users raised concerns that Apple frequently recorded their private conversations upon unintentionally activating Siri and then shared these recordings with third parties, including advertisers. The alleged recordings occurred even when users did not activate the virtual assistant with its trigger words “Hey, Siri.”

A preliminary …