Apple agrees to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit accusing Siri of eavesdropping on people

Apple is to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit claiming its Siri voice assistant snooped on users.

That’s according to a filing in a California federal court.

iPhone users complained that Apple routinely recorded their conversations after they accidentally activated Siri.

That can happen when people say something similar to the “hey Siri” phrase that is meant to wake the voice assistant.

The class action suit says the firm then disclosed the recordings to third parties including advertisers.

Two plaintiffs said they were targeted with ads for products like Air Jordan sneakers after mentioning them in conversation.

Another said he got ads for surgical treatment after what he thought was a private talk with his doctor.

Now parties to the class action could get $20 per Siri-enabled device, which includes iPhones, Apple Watches and smart speakers.

The tech giant denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to settle, and did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

A $95 million payout would equate to about nine hours of profit for Apple, which saw net income of close to $94 billion over the last fiscal year.

A similar lawsuit against Google’s voice assistant is also pending in California.