A $95 million settlement was reached in a class action lawsuit, and a preliminary settlement submitted late last year was recently approved, opening the door for settlement members to submit payment claims.

Here’s what you need to know about the lawsuit and how to qualify for a payment if Siri has ever been turned on on your Apple device without your permission.

What is at issue in this lawsuit?

According to the 2019 complaint, Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, could be turned on without the owner’s permission and would then start recording conversations. The lawsuit claims that third parties were then given access to that information.

The lawsuit cited instances described in a Guardian investigation that claimed to have obtained information from contractors that the recordings contained private talks, “drug deals,” and other contacts with doctors. According to Reuters, two plaintiffs in the case claimed that after discussing Olive Garden and Air Jordan shoes with Siri close Apple device, they were shown tailored advertisements for the products.

The claims of a spying Siri ran counter to Apple’s long-standing pledge to safeguard consumer privacy, which CEO Tim Cook has frequently presented as an effort to uphold “a fundamental human right.”

Apple accepted the $95 million settlement even though it had denied any wrongdoing in the lawsuit.

Who is eligible to get payment?

According to the settlement website, receiving an email or postcard including a claim identification code and a confirmation code is the simplest method to determine your eligibility.

You must have owned an Apple device with Siri between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024, in order to be eligible. Because of an accidental Siri activation, your “confidential communications” had to have been “obtained by Apple and/or were shared with third parties” within that period.

You can submit a claim on the settlement’s website if you fit these requirements and didn’t get an email or postcard.

What is the process for filing an assertion in the Siri settlement?

You will use the claim identification code and confirmation code that you got in an email or postcard to submit an online claim.

Administrators advise that you can file a new claim on the settlement website if you think you are eligible for the settlement but did not obtain those codes. You will be prompted to complete a form there with your personal details and information about the device (or devices) that could be affected.

The latter requires proof of purchase, such as an invoice or receipt, and the email address associated with the device. You will be required to supply the model and serial number of each device in the absence of proof of purchase.

Current Position of Apple

Despite denying any misconduct, Apple accepted the payment to save money on additional legal fees. The business makes it clear that Siri data is never sold to outside parties or utilized for marketing or advertising. Siri uses minimal data when a transfer is required and depends on on-device processing to prevent sending personal data to its servers. 

Siri does not save audio recordings unless users agree, and even then, it uses them only for enhancement. Additionally, searches and requests conducted through Siri are not connected to users’ Apple accounts. Users are always free to opt out.

How much of the settlement can I get?

Although $95 million is the stated total amount, you shouldn’t count on becoming wealthy as a result of the settlement. You can file claims for up to five Siri-enabled devices that you think were inadvertently turned on during a private or confidential chat. You may receive up to $20 for each qualified Siri device, according to settlement officials. However, the amount may vary based on the quantity of legitimate claims and Siri devices reported.

According to earlier reports from Reuters, tens of millions of individuals might be eligible for the settlement. Previous court records have estimated that only 3 to 5 percent of eligible consumers will bring claims.

What other details concerning the Siri deal should I be aware of?

In 2019, Apple declared that it had improved the privacy protections of Siri. Following those modifications, users can choose to contribute audio samples of their interactions to Siri’s improvement, and audio recordings of exchanges are no longer kept. According to the business, only Apple workers have access to the recordings made by users who have opted in.

The settlement represents a portion of the $705 billion in revenues that Apple has kept since September 2014. It’s also a small portion of the approximately $1.5 billion that the consumer lawyers had calculated Apple may have to pay if the firm had been found to have violated privacy laws and eavesdropping, had the case proceeded to trial.