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By Hugh Cameron
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Apple device users have started receiving their share of a $95 million settlement payment, stemming from a class-action lawsuit against the company which alleged that its Siri voice assistant was recording conversations and sharing these with third parties.
Per the terms of the settlement, payouts were scheduled to begin on Friday, and the Apple-focused news site 9to5Mac reports that eligible claimants are now seeing payments of up to around $40 enter their accounts.
Newsweek has contacted the company via email for comment.
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Why It Matters
Apple denies all of the allegations contained in the lawsuit or that it did anything "improper or unlawful," a website dedicated to the settlement states. However, since concerns over reported Siri eavesdropping first emerged, the company has updated its privacy practices, including by now requiring users to opt-in to having their recordings reviewed for quality grading.
What To Know
The claims regarding Siri spying on users date back to 2019, when a company whistleblower told The Guardian that contract workers for Apple were routinely listening to recordings captured by the voice assistant during the quality-control process.
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The settlement payment relates to a 2021 lawsuit filed by a California resident and several other consumers over this reported eavesdropping. The plaintiffs alleged that Apple devices had for years listened to users’ "confidential communications without their consent" and subsequently shared these with third party businesses for the purpose of "targeted advertisements."
Apple denied all of the allegations contained in the suit, but a proposed settlement was submitted in January 2025.
As detailed on the settlement website, the $95 million payment was to be paid out to current or former owners of a Siri-enabled devices—such as iPhones, MacBooks or AppleTVs—who reside in the U.S., "experienced an unintended Siri activation during a confidential or private communication" over the past decade and who successfully filed claims between May and July of 2025.
What People Are Saying
One X User, posting a picture of their payment, wrote: "Just randomly gotta Siri voice assistant lawsuit settlement deposit in my Cash App. Check your accounts if you signed up."
An Apple spokesperson, in a statement to BBC News last January, said: "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."
What Happens Next
Individuals were permitted to submit up to five Apple devices, with a payment cap of $20 per device, but the $95 million settlement fund is being distributed between claimants and 9to5Mac reports that the actual per-device payout is closer to $8.
Claimants who provided their banking details will receive a deposit labeled "Lopez Voice Assistant" or "Lopez Voice Asst—Payouts," per CBS News.
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