Apple Inc. (AAPL.O) issued a statement on Wednesday to clarify its stance on Siri’s privacy practices after settling a class action lawsuit for $95 million. The lawsuit alleged that Apple’s voice assistant unintentionally recorded users’ private conversations and shared them with third parties, including advertisers.
Apple firmly denied these claims, reiterating that it has never sold or used Siri data for marketing purposes. The company emphasized that it has never used data collected by Siri to create marketing profiles, nor has it made this data available for advertising or sold it to any third parties. In its settlement, which applies to millions of Apple users, customers could receive up to $20 for each Siri-enabled device, such as iPhones and Apple Watches.
“Apple has never used Siri data to build marketing profiles, never made it available for advertising, and never sold it to anyone for any purpose,” the company clarified.
The settlement raised concerns among some social media users and commentators who interpreted it as an admission of the allegations. In response, Apple reassured its customers that Siri’s voice recognition only requires minimal data for real-time processing, and that Apple does not retain audio recordings unless users explicitly opt in to help improve Siri’s performance. Even then, recordings are used solely for that purpose.
Apple also expressed its ongoing commitment to further enhance Siri’s privacy features, ensuring that user data remains secure. The company’s transparency on the matter comes as Google faces a similar lawsuit involving its Voice Assistant, with the same law firms representing plaintiffs in both cases.
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