Apple Agrees To Pay IDR 1.5 Trillion To Complete Siri's Privacy Lawsuit

Apple regularly records users' private conversations when Siri is enabled (photo: cx @cassandrecoyer1)

JAKARTA Apple Inc. has agreed to pay $ 95 million (around Rp. 1.5 trillion) to settle a class action lawsuit that accuses Siri's voice assistant of violating user privacy.

The initial agreement was filed on Tuesday evening December 31 at a federal court in feasibility, California, and is still awaiting approval by US District Judge Jeffrey White.

The plaintiffs alleg that Apple regularly records users' private conversations when Siri is turned on accidentally. The footage is claimed to have been shared with third parties such as advertisers without user consent.

Voice assistants like Siri are generally activated with trigger words like "Hey, Siri." However, some plaintiffs reported that their conversations about certain topics, such as Air Jordan shoes or Olive Garden restaurants, sparked related advertising. One of the plaintiffs even received advertisements about surgical care after private discussions with his doctor.

The lawsuit covers the period from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024, when the "Hey, Siri" feature came into use. Qualified class action members, estimated at tens of millions of people, can receive up to 20 US dollars (around Rp310,000) per device supporting Siri, including the iPhone and Apple Watch.

Apple denies committing a violation, despite agreeing to this settlement.

The plaintiffs' lawyers plan to request up to 28.5 million US dollars (approximately IDR 440 billion) for legal costs and 1.1 million US dollars (approximately IDR 17 billion) for expenses, which will be taken from settlement funds.

Meanwhile, similar lawsuits against Google over privacy breaches by Voice Assistant are being processed in the federal court of San Jose, California, in the same jurisdiction as Apple's case. Both lawsuits were handled by the same law firm.

The settlement amount of 95 million US dollars is equivalent to Apple's gains for nine hours, given the company's net profit in the last fiscal year of 93.74 billion US dollars.