Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that its Siri voice assistant secretly recorded private conversations without user consent. The settlement covers anyone in the United States who owned or purchased a Siri-enabled device — including iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, MacBooks, iMacs, HomePods, and Apple TVs — between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024. As of early 2026, the court has granted final approval and payments are being distributed.
View the full Apple Siri settlement details and check your eligibility on OpenClassActions.com.
Status: Approved — Payments Being Distributed
What Did the Lawsuit Allege?
The lawsuit centered on how Siri handles its “Hey Siri” activation feature. Apple designed Siri to listen continuously for its wake phrase so it could respond instantly when a user says “Hey Siri” or presses the activation button. The plaintiffs alleged that Siri frequently activated on its own — without anyone saying the wake phrase — and recorded snippets of private conversations that were never intended for Apple’s ears.
Making matters worse, the lawsuit claimed that Apple shared some of these unintentional recordings with third-party contractors as part of its “grading” program. These contractors listened to the audio to evaluate whether Siri correctly understood user requests. But because many recordings were triggered accidentally, the contractors ended up hearing private discussions about medical conditions, financial matters, personal relationships, and other sensitive topics.
Apple initially denied any wrongdoing but eventually suspended the human grading program in 2019 after media reports exposed the practice. The company later made the grading program opt-in only and committed to processing more Siri data on-device rather than sending it to Apple’s servers.
How Much Are Individual Payments?
Class members who filed valid claims can receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, with a maximum of five devices per household. That means a family with multiple Apple products could receive up to $100. The exact payment amount depends on how many people submitted claims. If the total claims exceed the settlement fund, payments will be reduced proportionally.
The $95 million fund also covers attorney fees, court costs, and settlement administration expenses. After those deductions, the remaining balance is divided among all valid claimants. Reports indicate that a significant number of Apple users submitted claims, so individual payments may be somewhat lower than the $20 maximum.
What This Means for Privacy Going Forward
This settlement is significant beyond the dollar amounts. It established an important precedent that companies cannot passively collect voice data through always-listening assistants without meaningful user consent. Apple is not the only company facing scrutiny over voice assistant privacy — Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant have faced similar complaints — but this is the first major settlement to result in payouts to consumers.
For Apple users, the practical takeaway is to review your Siri privacy settings. You can disable “Hey Siri” listening, turn off Siri entirely, or opt out of Apple’s audio improvement program in your device settings. Apple has made these controls more accessible since the lawsuit was filed.
Check whether you qualify for the Apple Siri settlement on OpenClassActions.com.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information presented is based on publicly available court records and news reports. Written by Steve Levine for OpenClassActions.org.