Apple has issued a statement denying allegations that Siri data was ever used for marketing purposes or sold to third parties. This response comes after a lawsuit settlement in which plaintiffs claimed that Siri accidentally recorded their conversations and that these recordings were used for targeted advertising.
Apple emphasized that Siri data has never been used to build marketing profiles or sold to anyone for any purpose. The company stated that Siri was designed with user privacy in mind from its inception.
“Siri has been engineered to protect user privacy from the beginning. Siri data has never been used to build marketing profiles, and it has never been sold to anyone for any purpose. 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.”
Apple explained that it settled the lawsuit to avoid further litigation and to move past concerns about third-party grading that were addressed in 2019, as reported by MacRumors.
In 2019, a lawsuit was filed because Apple contractors listened to private conversations that were accidentally triggered by Siri. Plaintiffs alleged they were unaware of this practice and would not have purchased iPhones had they known.
Apple has agreed to settle the lawsuit for $95 million. The settlement covers current or former owners of Siri-enabled devices in the United States between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024. Eligible class members could receive up to $20 per device.
A settlement website will be established, and eligible class members will be contacted regarding potential compensation. Apple continues to deny any wrongdoing in the matter.