What You Need to Know About Apple's Siri Lawsuit

You might have seen headlines about Apple being sued over Siri eavesdropping on private conversations. The tech giant settled the class action case last month, and has agreed to pay $95 million to affected users (but admits no wrongdoing). Once the settlement has been approved, you’ll be able to receive a payout of up to $20 for each Apple device with Siri you’ve owned over the last decade. If you’re a frequent phone upgrader or bought big into the Apple ecosystem, there could be quite a significant rebate headed your way. Read on for all the details.

So what happened? Back in 2019, The Guardian published a bombshell story alleging Apple was hiring contractors to manually review conversations recorded by Siri.

“Confidential medical information, drug deals, and recordings of couples having sex” are some of the topics named in the first sentence of the article, and the story quickly took off.

Within weeks several law firms joined together in a class action suit against Apple. They accused the company of violating wiretap laws, ignoring their own privacy policies, and argued that their tactics could add up to $1.5 billion in damages.

Ever chatted with a friend about a product or service you were interested in, only to have your entire Twitter timeline fill up with ads for the exact same thing? Part of this suit alleges that Siri was sniffing conversations for marketing and analytics purposes – without the consent or knowledge of the user.

Apple has been fighting the suit for years, but submitted a settlement offer in December that is now awaiting approval from a district judge. Notably, Apple accepts no wrongdoing; the money paid out is not for damages, just to end the suit.

So what does that mean for you, the average American with 15 Apple products laying around the house? While things are still preliminary, we have a pretty good idea of what happens next. Apple has offered $95 million to be paid out to affected users.

To join the Siri class action lawsuit, you need to live in the US and have owned at least one Siri-connected device between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024.

Additionally, you’ll need to assert under oath that Siri was unintentionally activated at least one time during that period.

As of this publication, there is no official claim form for Apple’s Siri Lawsuit. We’re expecting the firms behind the suit to put something out very soon now that the settlement is under preliminary approval.

Now for the fun part: let’s talk money. Again, this is still a little speculative. If the $95 million offer is approved, that money will be split between affected users that file a claim, subject to several factors.

One of the most important are the lawyers’ fees. Court documents examined by the BBC put this number at around 30%, close to $30 million in this case. This number could come down depending on the judge’s ruling.

The remaining money will be paid out to claimants on a per-device basis. The most common figure we’ve seen thrown around is around $20 per eligible device, up to a maximum of five devices.

But that number is not set in stone. It’s highly dependent on how many users actually file a claim in the suit. Early estimates put that number at only around 2% to 5% of the entire affected class, implying the potential payout could be much higher.

If you owned any Siri-capable product in the last ten years, pay attention to this case. The hard part is over, the lawyers have argued on your behalf, and the money has already been set aside.

Did you know that Apple has over $160 billion dollars in cash reserves? The company has been printing money for generations, so don’t feel bad about getting some of yours back.

We recommend all of our affected readers to check out the claim form as soon as it is published, and we will be updating this article as soon as we know more.

Until then, make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter. We’ll keep you informed on all kinds of moneymaking opportunities, from straightforward flips to marked-down products. If a fatter wallet is your new year’s resolution, welcome to your new favorite website.

P.S. Ever played Fortnite? We covered another class action lawsuit that affected gamers, and the window to file closes on January 10. We’ve seen Fortnite players receive checks for up to $1,000, so check out our article before it’s too late.