The apple company reached an agreement, after five long years of conflicts, that will cost it millions of dollars. Consumers filed the lawsuit in 2019, where they claimed that Siri stole their information to then sell advertising.
Apple reached an agreement to pay US$95 million in front of one 2019 demandwhich accused the company of invading the privacy of users when using its virtual assistant Sirifor spy on people while using their iPhones and other devices.
After five years of conflicts and back and forth, the proposed final agreement was presented this Tuesday in a federal court in Oakland, Californiaand put an end to the alleged accusations of espionage for more than a decade, from the large technology company.
At the time, several users reported that Apple, through Siri, recorded conversations between 2014 and 2019, and then use those audios in order to sell advertising and generate profits with unauthorized data. Although the company always denied the facts, it agreed to distribute that amount of money between the people who made the claimunder certain conditions.
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Apple
Accusations of Siri spying
According to the complaints and experiences of various users, the alleged recordings happened even when the function to activate the virtual assistant with the words “Hey Siri“, were not mentioned or searched. Later, several of those recorded conversations were shared with advertisers either companieswith the aim of sell your products to consumers more aligned with the service offerings, goods and functions they provided, the lawsuit stated.
This action went completely against Apple’s strong commitment to protect and ensure privacy to your clients. Tim Cookthe company’s CEO, stated several times that the fight for privacy is “a fundamental human right“.
What determined the final demand
Apple did not acknowledge any wrongdoing in the agreement and the lawyers have proposed scheduling a audience on February 14 at oakland courtto review the agreements that are still must be approved by US District Judge Jeffrey White.
In the event that the provisions are approved, millions of consumers who had Apple devices in the period indicated in the complaint could file a complaint and receive up to US$20 per device equipped with Siri covered by the agreement. The value of what each person receives will depend on the volume of claimswhich they estimate that 3% to 5% of eligible consumers file claims, according to estimates in court documents.
However, those eligible consumers must meet certain characteristics: Seek redress on up to five devices, live in the United States, and declare under oath that they accidentally activated Siri during a private conversation. The lawyers who filed the lawsuit can request up to almost US$30 million of the agreement fund in order to cover their fees and other expenses involved in the process.
The agreement represents only a fraction of the US$705,000 million in profits that Apple obtained since September 2014 and a fraction of the approximately US$1500 million that lawyers representing consumers had estimated that the company would have to pay if it had been determined that They violated wiretapping laws and of privacy.
Source: Ambito
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