Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class-action lawsuit involving its Siri voice assistant. The settlement stems from accusations that Siri recorded users’ private conversations and, in some cases, passed them on to third-party contractors for evaluation.
With a new website set up for the case, Apple users can now file claims. Newsweek reached out to Apple for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The Apple payout underscores growing legal and consumer scrutiny around how tech companies handle voice data collected by smart assistants.
The $95 million settlement is a result of public criticism following a 2019 investigation by The Guardianwhich found that Apple contractors were exposed to confidential user audio captured by Siri, including private medical information and intimate conversations.
Apple issued an apology and said it wouldn’t retain user recordings. The company agreed to the $95 million payout in January, but denies the allegations made in the lawsuit and denies that Apple did anything improper or unlawful.
This photograph shows wordmark of Siri, a digital assistant developed by Apple Inc., displayed on a smartphone in Bordeaux, south-western France on February 14, 2025.
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
The class-action lawsuit, Lopez v. Apple Inc., alleged that the tech giant infringed on users’ privacy by allowing unintentional Siri activations to capture confidential communications without consent.
Apple has said that Siri recordings were never used for marketing purposes and that the company stopped retaining user recordings in 2019.
Who Is Eligible for Apple Settlement?
To be eligible for compensation, users must have owned or purchased a Siri-enabled device—such as an iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Apple Watch, HomePod, iPod touch or Apple TV—between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024.
They must also have experienced an unintended Siri activation during a private conversation in that time period. Each approved device is eligible for a payout of up to $20, with a cap of five devices per claimant, meaning a person could be eligible for up to $100.
According to the official settlement siteanyone who meets the following criteria can file a claim:
- Resided in the United States or U.S. territories.
- Purchased or owned a Siri-enabled Apple device between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024.
- Enabled Siri on the device.
- Experienced an unintended Siri activation during a confidential or private communication.
Excluded from the class are current or former Apple employees, legal representatives, and court staff involved in the case.
How to File a Claim for Apple Settlement
People who may be eligible may have received a postcard or email notifying them of the settlement, but they still need to submit a claim. Claim forms can be submitted regardless of whether the user received a formal notice, and applications are being accepted until July 2.
To file a claim, visit the settlement website and fill out the information requested on the website
What People Are Saying
Apple told Fast Company in January: “Apple settled this case to avoid additional litigation so we can move forward from concerns about third-party grading that we already addressed in 2019. We use Siri data to improve Siri, and we are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private.”
Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek: “Americans should know that this is absolutely a way for Apple to not admit fault, as $95 million to Apple is a simple rounding error. This is a corporate tactic used to absolve themselves from the allegations and not admit fault, while paying out the consumer. If you truly think about it, the number of iPhones sold over the past 10-years which is roughly 1.3B, and let’s say 10 percent of those people get in on the class action lawsuit. That may result in an $.80 payout.”
What’s Next
The court is expected to finalize the settlement at a hearing scheduled for August 1.
If no objections or appeals delay the process, payments could begin later in the year. Eligible users are encouraged to submit claims as early as possible.
