On Thursday, a federal judge in California allowed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing its voice assistant Siri of infringing on user privacy.
Reuters reported that District Judge Jeffrey White ruled that the plaintiffs can continue their efforts to prove that Siri often recorded their conversations privately due to “accidental activation.” It will also give the plaintiff an opportunity to prove that Apple disclosed the content of these conversations to third parties such as its advertisers.
What started the lawsuit against the trillion-dollar company was a large number of complaints from users who reported on targeted advertisements they received based on private conversations.
Reuters quoted a user as saying that Siri secretly recorded discussions with his doctor about “branded surgical treatment,” which led to the receipt of treatment advertisements. Others complained that they received various advertisements from Air Jordan sneakers to sneakers. Allegedly, after their conversation was overheard by Siri, they helped the chain restaurant Olive Garden.
Siri is the name of Apple’s voice assistant, which is installed on the operating systems of its products, including Mac, iPhone, and Apple TV.
Judge White allowed a class action lawsuit against Apple on the grounds that it may violate federal wiretapping laws, California privacy laws, and violate user contracts. However, he did rule on the unfair competition claims contained in the lawsuit.
Allegations that Siri and other voice assistants violate user privacy are not new. In July 2019, a whistleblower inside Apple revealed that the recordings were sent to Apple contractors, including sensitive conversations between doctors and patients, husband and wife sex, and even drug dealing. Apple admitted that these conversations were being recorded, and later shared an iOS update that allowed users to delete the company’s voice recordings stored on its servers.
The whistleblower later revealed that he was a former Apple contractor named Thomas le Bonniec. He disclosed his identity in May 2020 because he believed that Apple failed to face meaningful consequences for its violations. But the new lawsuit may be a lawsuit that holds Apple liable.
