Last month, it was revealed that some contractors for Apple have the capability to listen to Siri interactions. Unsurprisingly, a class action lawsuit has already been leveled against Apple for the infraction.
Kif Lewsing was the first to take note of the class action lawsuit that has just been filed against Apple in federal court in Northern California. The plaintiffs in the suit are accusing Apple of “unlawful and intentional recording of individuals’ confidential communications without their consent”, and states that Apple has violated California’s Invasion of Privacy Act, the Unfair Competition Law, the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and the Declaratory Judgment Act.
The plaintiffs note that Apple did not make any specific mention that their interactions with Siri would be recorded and listened to by some Apple employees. They add that any Apple device owner that has owned a device with Siri on board, dating back to 2011, has been affected by this.
Class action suit filed in federal court in Northern California over Siri recordings for human QA https://t.co/fcYISktYHn
— kif (@kifleswing) August 7, 2019
The plaintiffs even include accidental Siri activations when customers say “Hey Siri” or even something kind of close that accidentally activates the digital personal assistant.
At this point, the plaintiffs are seeking an unknown amount in damages. Something even bigger they are seeking, though: for Apple to delete all of the Siri recordings it has.
Apple has already said that it has stopped the Siri grading program across the globe. When it brings it back online later this year, it will be an opt-in and opt-out situation, allowing customers to choose whether or not they want to help improve Siri by letting the interactions be reviewed at a later date.
How do you feel about this?