San Francisco:

Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit accusing its digital assistant Siri of eavesdropping on users’ private conversations.

Details of the proposed settlement filed in court obtained Thursday came with the Apple holding firm saying it did nothing wrong.

“Apple has at all times denied and continues to deny any and all alleged wrongdoing and liability,” the tech titan said in the proposed settlement, which requires a judge’s approval to be finalized.

A class-action lawsuit filed five years ago accused Siri of eavesdropping on the private conversations of people who grew up with the digital assistant on iPhones, iPads, HomePods or other Apple devices.

The California-based tech company has made user privacy a big part of its brand image, and one reason is that it tightly controls its “ecosystem” of hardware and software.

According to the suit, what was captured through “inadvertent Siri activation” was obtained by Apple and may have been shared with third parties.

The $95 million proposed settlement fund would be used to pay more than $20 per Siri device to US owners who had private conversations without permission, the settlement indicated.

The agreement also requires Apple to confirm that it has deleted any audio it hears, and user choices when it comes to voice data collected to improve Siri. Clarify.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2023, Amazon agreed to pay more than $30 million to the US Federal Trade Commission to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of violating privacy with its Ring doorbell cameras and Alexa digital assistant.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)



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