Apple has agreed to enter into a $95 million settlement agreement to end a proposed class action lawsuit that accused the tech giant of listening in on user conversations through its Siri voice-activated assistant.

A preliminary settlement was reached on December 13, 2024, in an Oakland, California, federal court. The settlement now needs to be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.

The lawsuit was originally filed by the Wood Law Firm in August 2019. It was the result of a newspaper article published in The Guardian which claimed Siri was activated surreptitiously and recorded user conversations without their knowledge.

In September 2014, Apple issued a software update that would allow Siri to only be activated with the trigger “Hey Siri.” However, the Guardian article detailed that despite this software update, users continued to be surreptitiously recorded in an effort to improve the software. Phrases that sounded similar to “Hey Siri” would activate the voice assistant and would cause user conversations to be recorded without a user’s knowledge.

After the lawsuit was filed, additional claims were made against Apple including allegations that the company shared some of those recorded conversations with advertisers who wanted to learn more about users for targeted marketing.

One plaintiff says he began receiving hyper-specific medical ads after he had a detailed conversation with his doctor about a specific surgical treatment, a conversation he says he was having in private.

In addition to listening in on private conversations, the plaintiffs accused Apple of selling these conversations to third parties, including advertisers, so that they could target desired demographics.

Apple was adamant in the settlement that the claims made in the proposed class action lawsuit were false. Apple defended its product, explaining that it has “never used Siri data to build marketing profiles, never made it available for advertising, and never sold it to anyone for any purpose."

The company doubled down, adding, "Apple does not retain audio recordings of Siri interactions unless users explicitly opt in to help improve Siri, and even then, the recordings are used solely for that purpose."

There is a similar lawsuit against Apple's counterpart, Google, over its use of voice assistants and how unauthorized conversations are potentially being recorded, collected, and shared with third parties.

That lawsuit is playing out in a San Jose, California, federal court, and the plaintiffs in that case are being represented by the same law firm that represented the plaintiffs accusing Apple.

Although Apple has denied any wrongdoing, entering into the settlement would keep it from having to move forward with what would be a highly publicized trial and even more violations added to the case.

Despite the $95 million settlement, this amount is just a sliver of the company's overall earnings over the past decade. Since 2014, Apple has profited over $700 billion, helping it climb to a market valuation of $3.7 trillion.

While the settlement is still in its early phase, qualifying claimants could see up to $20 per Siri-enabled device. Lawyers in the case are seeking an estimated $30 million in fees and expenses; however, that amount could be lowered after the case is finalized by Judge White. A proposed court hearing is scheduled for February 14th to review the settlement terms.