The Apple Siri $95 million settlement resolves a class action, Lopez v. Apple Inc., that accused Apple of recording private conversations through Siri without users’ consent. Apple denied wrongdoing but agreed to pay $95 million into a non-reversionary fund. Payments to approved claimants began on January 23, 2026.1NBC New York. Apple Settlement $95 Million Payments
What Apple Was Accused Of
The lawsuit was filed August 7, 2019, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, days after a Guardian report in which an anonymous Apple contractor said workers “regularly heard private user conversations” while reviewing Siri recordings for quality assurance.2The Guardian. Apple Siri Privacy Lawsuit Settlement3CourtListener. Lopez v. Apple Inc. The contractor described hearing confidential medical discussions, drug deals, and sexual encounters, and said Siri frequently activated by mistake, misinterpreting ordinary sounds as the “Hey Siri” wake phrase.4The Record. Apple To Pay $95 Million in Siri Lawsuit
The plaintiffs alleged that Apple recorded conversations even when users had not said “Hey, Siri” or manually triggered the assistant, shared those recordings with third-party contractors, and used the data to serve targeted advertising. Their claims arose under the Federal Wiretap Act, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, California’s Unfair Competition Law, the state constitutional right to privacy, and common-law theories including intrusion upon seclusion.5Angeion Group. Lopez v. Apple Second Amended Complaint
Judge Jeffrey S. White allowed core claims to proceed in a September 2021 ruling, finding it plausible that targeted advertising resulted from Siri interceptions.6Top Class Actions. Apple Siri Eavesdropping Class Action Claims Proceed Under Recent Ruling After years of discovery, the parties reached a settlement in mediation in October 2024, and Judge White granted final approval in September 2025.7Courthouse News Service. Judge Approves $95 Million Apple Settlement Over Siri Privacy Case
Who Was Eligible and How Much People Are Getting
The settlement class covered current or former U.S. owners of Siri-enabled Apple devices — iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, MacBooks, iMacs, HomePods, iPod touches, and Apple TVs — who had Siri enabled at some point between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024. To file, a claimant had to attest under oath that they experienced at least one unintended Siri activation during a conversation they intended to be private or confidential.8ClassAction.org. Lopez v. Apple Settlement Agreement9Consumer Reports. How To File a Claim in Apple Siri Lawsuit Settlement
The settlement set a ceiling of $20 per device, capped at five devices per person. The claim filing deadline was July 2, 2025.10Lopez Voice Assistant Settlement. Lopez Voice Assistant Settlement Homepage
Actual payouts came in well below the cap. Because the volume of claims diluted the fund, the per-device figure has landed around $8.02, meaning claimants with five devices are reporting checks of roughly $40.11CBS News. Lopez Voice Assistant Payout Settlement The $95 million fund also paid class counsel up to $28.6 million in attorney fees, up to $10,000 in service awards to each named plaintiff, and roughly $5.975 million in administration and notice costs.8ClassAction.org. Lopez v. Apple Settlement Agreement
When Payments Started and How Long Checks Last
Payments began going out on January 23, 2026, through physical checks, ACH direct deposits, and digital checks sent by email.1NBC New York. Apple Settlement $95 Million Payments Checks are valid for 120 days from the mailing date, with expiration around June 7, 2026. If you received one, cash or deposit it before then. Any uncashed funds will be redistributed to other claimants or sent to a cy pres recipient rather than reverting to Apple.12MoneyPilot. Lopez Voice Assistant Class Action Settlement
Angeion Group administered the settlement, with claims filed through lopezvoiceassistantsettlement.com. The claim window has closed, so late filings are no longer accepted.13CBS News. Apple Siri Settlement: How To File a Claim
What Apple Changed About Siri
The privacy overhaul actually began before the lawsuit was filed. On August 2, 2019, days after The Guardian report, Apple suspended its human review program worldwide.14CNBC. Apple Suspends Program That Let Employees Listen to Siri Recordings Later that month, Apple announced it would stop retaining Siri audio recordings by default, switch to computer-generated transcripts, make human review opt-in only, and restrict any remaining review work to Apple employees rather than outside contractors.15Apple Newsroom. Improving Siri’s Privacy Protections Those changes rolled out with iOS 13.2 in October 2019.16Mozilla Foundation. How To Opt Out of Human Review of Your Voice Assistant Recordings
Apple has continued to deny wrongdoing and describes the underlying controversy as “concerns about third-party grading that we already addressed in 2019.”2The Guardian. Apple Siri Privacy Lawsuit Settlement
A Separate Settlement Covers Google Assistant
If you’re a Google Assistant user, the Apple settlement doesn’t apply to you. A parallel case, In re Google Assistant Privacy Litigation, was filed in the same court in 2019 with similar allegations, and Google agreed to settle it for $68 million.17Reuters. Google Settles Google Assistant Privacy Lawsuit for $68 Million That is a separate settlement with its own class, terms, and claims process.