Featured Image Credit: Charday Penn/Oscar Wong/Getty Images
Topics: Apple, Technology, iPhone
Ellie Kemp
Topics: Apple, Technology, iPhone
iPhone users might be wanting to turn off Siri after learning that Apple has agreed to settle a $95,000,000 'eavesdropping' lawsuit.
The major tech company had a lawsuit filed against them five years ago which claims the AI-powered voice assistant has been listening to users' private conversations.
People complained that Apple had recorded their private conversations after accidentally activating the digital assistant, alleging the conversations were disclosed to third parties such as advertisers.
The voice assistant typically reacts when users say trigger words or phrases like 'Hey, Siri'.
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Two plaintiffs in the lawsuit said their mentions of shopping for Air Jordan sneakers and at Olive Garden restaurants meant they suddenly saw more ads for those products, while a third said his device had advertisements for a branded surgical treatment that he thought he had discussed privately with his doctor.
The complaint alleged Apple collected conversations through 'unintended Siri activation'.
A preliminary settlement was filed on Tuesday night in Oakland, California federal court, where Apple has agreed to pay out $95,000,000 to settle the claim and provide compensation to users whose private conversations were allegedly captured.
Apple has denied any wrongdoing in its proposed settlement, stating 'Apple has at all times denied and continues to deny any and all alleged wrongdoing and liability'.
But, if approved, the settlement means US Apple users could claim $20 per device that enables Siri - including not just iPhones, but iPads and Apple Watches too.
You can disable Ask Siri by heading to Settings > Siri > Talk to Siri and tapping Off.
Then, tap to turn off Talk to Siri, and go to Settings > Siri > Talk to Siri and tap to turn off “Press Home for Siri” or “Press Side Button for Siri”.
To turn off Dictation, go to Settings > General > Keyboard, then tap to turn off Enable Dictation.
If you turn off both Ask Siri and Dictation, Apple will delete Siri and Dictation transcripts that are associated with the random identifier, according to the company's website.
Or, you can delete Siri and Dictation transcripts that are associated with a random identifier and kept for six months by going to Settings > Siri > Siri & Dictation History and tapping Delete Siri & Dictation History.