Apple users receiving part of $95 million settlement after Siri recorded private conversations

A number of Apple users can expect to receive some of the $95 million (£77m) agreed upon after a court case found that some devices were listening to people without their permission.

Around 49 percent of phone owners in the UK have an iPhone, according to Uswitch, with Samsung in second place at 33 percent, so with millions potentially at risk, who will be entitled to a pay out?

Well, the scandal is all to do with Apple's virtual assistant Siri, with the company being accused of eavesdropping on its customers, as claimants alleged that voice recordings were shared with advertisers.

However, Apple has denied selling Siri data and said that they have settled to stay clear of any further litigation.

Recently, the tech giant has started to hand payments out to customers affected in the class action lawsuit.

Users claimed that several Siri-equipped devices recorded them (Getty Stock Image)

Who is entitled to a payout?

Mobile device owners said that Apple had recorded private conversations when Siri was activated unintentionally, affecting tens of millions who are thought to be involved in the suit.

Those affected could receive up to $20 (£14.50) per Siri-enabled device, including iPhones and Apple Watches.

Administrators say that qualifying for a portion of the settlement requires the customer to have owned a Siri-equipped Apple device between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024.

The person's 'confidential communications' must then have been 'obtained by Apple and/or were shared with third parties as a result of an unintended Siri activation', in this period.

Apparently, qualifying members already received 'emails and postcards', but settlement administrations advised others to apply if they believed they were entitled to a payout.

Apple users claim that Siri has been listening in on private conversations without their permission (Getty Stock Image)

Can you apply to be compensated today?

Unfortunately, the claim window closed in July 2025 so it's too late to do anything now.

Claims for up to five Siri-enabled Apple devices were accepted, with payments increasing or decreasing around the $20 per device benchmark, depending on the number of valid claims.

In a statement to BBC News, an Apple spokesperson said: "Siri data has never been used to build marketing profiles and it has never been sold to anyone for any purpose," adding that data collected by the tool is only used to improve it.

"Apple settled this case to avoid additional litigation so we can move forward from concerns about third-party grading that we already addressed in 2019."

$95 million won't make too much of a dent in Apple's worth (Getty Stock Image)

Apple's lawyers stated that they have 'permanently deleted individual Siri audio recordings collected by Apple prior to October 2019', despite claimants saying that their devices recorded users who activated Siri by accident without saying 'Hey, Siri' to wake it.

The suit came about as two plaintiffs in California claimed their mentions of Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden restaurants resulted in adverts for the products popping up on their devices.

Another even claimed that he got adverts for a brand name surgical treatment following private discussions with his doctor, without saying any activation words.

While $95 million is being distributed, this is just nine hours of profit for the company, which boasts a net income of $93.74 billion (£68.54 billion) in its latest fiscal year, say Reuters.