Apple has agreed to pay out a hefty sum to settle a lawsuit claiming its voice assistant, Siri, has been listening to users’ private conversations.
iPhone users have complained that Apple had recorded their private conversations after accidentally activating its digital assistant, Siri, and alleged 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’.
The lawsuit, which was filed five years ago, claimed the tech giant’s feature was listening to private conversations without users’ consent and possibly sharing their data.
Some users have complained their devices have been recording their conversations (Getty Images)
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’.
Now, 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.
The lawsuit alleges the conversations were recorded when Siri was triggered unintentionally (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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’.
The proposal now requires formal approval from US District Judge, Jefferey White, but if approved, it would offer US Apple users up to $20 per device that enables Siri, such as iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches.
As the class period runs from September 17, 2014, to December 31, 2024, as that’s when Siri incorporated the ‘Hey, Siri’ feature, tens of millions of members whose device allegedly used unauthorized recordings may be eligible to receive a slice of the settlement.
Apple must also confirm that it has deleted any private conversations that were captured by Siri and now has to inform users more clearly about how their voice data is used.
The Apple store in Palo Alto, California (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Lawyers for the plaintiffs may also seek some $28.5 million in fees, as well as $1.1 million for expenses from the settlement pot.
The $95 million is estimated to cover around nine hours in profit for Apple, and the company’s net income was $93.74 billion in its latest fiscal year.
The settlement comes as other huge technology organizations have agreed to fork out similar settlement costs after being accused of violating users’ privacy.
In 2023, Amazon agreed to pay $30 million with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after it was accused of privacy violations through its Ring doorbell cameras and Alexa digital assistant.
Another lawsuit on behalf of users of Google’s Voice Assistant is also currently pending in the San Jose, California federal court, where the plaintiffs are represented by the same firms in the Apple case.
Apple is yet to provide an official comment on the settlement.
If your worst nightmare is having all your old photos resurface on your phone, then you might not want to get the new iOS update.
Apple‘s 17.5 iOS update was released on Monday (May 13), just a couple of months after the release of 17.4 – and it seems to have come with an unexpected feature.
According to some iPhone users, iOS 17.5 is bringing back old photos that they thought were long gone off their devices.
Chatting on an iOS-dedicated Reddit thread, one person penned in recent days: “Latest iOS update has brought back some pictures I deleted in 2021.”
They went on: “Just completed the update. When in conversation with my partner, I went to send a picture and saw that the latest pictures were nsfw material we’d made years ago when we were living apart (covid etc). But WTF.
“It was permanently deleted. Years ago but magically it’s back?”
The Redditor said the whole situation made them feel ‘so uncomfortable’ and ‘uneasy’.
People are reporting that their old photos are coming back. (Getty Stock Photo)
“Same here. I have four pics from 2010 that keep reappearing as the latest pics uploaded to iCloud,” one person replied. “I have deleted them repeatedly.”
Someone else added: “Same thing happened to me. Six photos from different times all I have deleted. Some I had deleted in 2023.”
“I don’t think our data is ever truly deleted,” questioned another, and a lot of other people are thinking the same thing.
One person wrote on X: “Wait, does that mean Apple keeps all my deleted photos, even after 30 days?”
“Lmao so much for privacy,” a different person penned.
A third echoed similar sentiments, writing: “Does this mean @Apple may have kept all my photos from all time, even though I’ve asked for them to be deleted?”
Apple are yet to address the apparent glitch. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Despite reports of photos coming back, Apple’s website states that deleted photos are wiped from your device in 30 days.
“When you delete photos and videos, they’re sent to your Recently Deleted album for 30 days. After 30 days, they’ll be deleted permanently,” the company says.
Elsewhere it says that once a photo is deleted from your Recently Deleted folder ‘you can’t get it back’.
UNILAD has contacted Apple for comment on the matter.
The resurfaced photo issue comes after some iPhone users recently reported that their alarms were no longer working.
Dozens of people took to TikTok to air their grievances, with Apple later addressing the matter and saying that it was ‘working on a fix’.
Featured Image Credit: Matt Cardy/Getty Images / Getty Stock Images
I think we can all agree that sleeping in and missing our alarm is one of the worst ways to start you day, and this is something that’s been regularly happening to some iPhone users.
It isn’t because they’re super tired and simply not hearing their devices though; hundreds of iPhone users have been complaining that the alarms haven’t been going off at all.
Many of those experiencing the ongoing issue have taken to TikTok of late to air their grievances.
One TikToker named Alyssa shared her problems in a clip posted last month.
“I don’t know what’s been going on with the Apple alarm clocks lately, but I know I cannot be the only one,” she said.
Alyssa went on to explain that she went for a nap after one of her classes and, despite having ‘set five alarms’ she still slept in and missed her next one.
“I swear to god I set the alarms and they just didn’t go off,” she insisted.
Many others on the video sharing platform have also echoed similar sentiments.
Apple has now addressed the matter and assured iPhone users that its looking to fix the apparent technical issue.
Speaking to Today, the tech powerhouse said that it’s ‘working on a fix’.
Elsewhere, people have drawn fellow iPhone users’ attention to the Attention Awareness Features their devices might have.
Some iPhone users have claimed that their alarms aren’t going off. (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
As per the Apple website, it explains: “Even if you don’t enroll in Face ID, the TrueDepth camera* intelligently activates to support Attention Aware Features. With Attention Aware Features, iPhone can check whether you’re paying attention to your device and automatically take action.”
If you’re not looking at your device, it will lower the volume sound of your alerts – which could be the problem that many are facing regarding their alarms.
To fix this, you can simply turn this feature off.
“If you don’t want to use these features, open the Settings app, tap Face ID & Passcode, then turn off Attention Aware Features,” explained Apple.
The problem has reportedly been affecting several models. (Pixabay)
A different feature that’s divided iPhone users is its Crash Detection.
Launched in 2022, ‘Crash Detection’ can assist those involved in accidents by calling for help once activated.
It is currently available on iPhone 14 or later, Apple Watch (Series 8 or later), Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) and Apple Watch Ultra or later.
One Redditor shared her experience with the feature following her sister being involved in a car crash.
She received a message that read: “Crash Detected SOS. I called emergency services from this approximate location after iPhone detected a crash. You are receiving this message because I have listed you as an emergency contact.”
People hailed the text as ‘terrifying’ but also noted it’s benefits.
Featured Image Credit: TODAY/NurPhoto / Contributor
Topics: iPhone, Technology, Apple, TikTok, Social Media, News
If you don’t like change then you may wish to click off now as our phones are in for a big one.
When I say our phones I mean the large majority of us with iPhones.
iOS 18 will feature AI for the first time. (Filip Radwanski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Yes, Apple is shaking the boat massively next month as it rolls out iOS 18… but the tech giant did warn us back in June.
Apple promised that the next software update will offer ‘all-new customisation options, the biggest-ever redesign of Photos, powerful updates for staying connected, and Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system’.
Let’s have a brief run-down of what you should expect.
What are the updates?
For those that use their phones for work, you will be pleased to hear of a new rewrite feature for Mail that the major update will bring.
AI will be used to help users – for example if you wrote a causal email, but you wished to rewrite it in a formal way, you can use the ‘professional’ setting.
There will be a new ‘dark mode’ for your phone. (Apple)
The coolest thing of all is that you’ll be able to alter the appearance of app icons on your screen and put your phone into ‘dark mode’.
There’s plenty of other things, including the home screen, lock screen and control center will all look completely different.
So, what’s the warning?
But what is the key feature that an expert has warned us about?
Apple ID will be no more as of September.
Instead, it will be known as your ‘Apple Account’.
While there won’t actually be any drastic changes with it other than its name, it will be sure to confuse your mom, dad and grandparents – if they’re Apple users.
That confusion is what has worried Ryan Christoffel, an expert in the field, who believes there will be an influx in phishing scams aimed at the elderly.
Apple iOS 18 is due to be rolled out next month. (Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Writing for 9to5Mac, he said: “Apple IDs are such an important part of accessing various highly sensitive and secure data related to your digital life.
“This is why it’s important to be clear on the terminology.
“Phishing schemes, for example, may seek to capitalize on users’ confusion during this change.”
Your login details will still remain the same, in fact, everything else will – it’s purely superficial, which leads to the question… why make the change?
Well, according to Apple, the move will help deliver ‘a consistent sign-in experience across Apple services and devices’.
So, are you looking forward to iOS 18 in September?
Featured Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Topics: Apple, Technology, iPhone, World News, Artificial Intelligence
Apple loses $2,500,000 after being ripped off by iPhone scam
The scheme saw two scammers sentenced to four years in jail and reportedly cost Apple some $2.5 million
Two people have been sent to prison over a scam which reportedly cost tech giant Apple some $2.5 million.
Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue ran a scam posing as a repair shop that sent counterfeit phones to the business.
They would claim that the phones couldn’t be repaired in the hope that Apple would replace the counterfeit iPhones with the genuine article.
Sun and Xue lived in Maryland in the US, conducting the scam over several years and sending thousands of counterfeit phones to the tech giant.
The counterfeit phones originated in Hong Kong, and would use spoofed serial numbers and International Mobile Equipment Identity numbers.
This enabled them to be passed off as the genuine article even to employees at Apple itself.
They also used particular faults that would make the phones eligible to be replaced according to Apple’s policies.
Over the course of the scam they reportedly cost the company around $2.5 million.
The pair would use counterfeit iPhones (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The pair would use UPS and DHL to ship the phones over from Hong Kong, according to Postal Inspector Stephen Cohen in court records.
Cohen wrote that the scheme was discovered by an Apple Brand Integrity Investigator, who discovered that the unique numbers used on the fake devices belonged to real customers.
According to court records, Cohen wrote: “Apple confirmed that some intercepted phones contained spoofed IMEI and serial numbers associated with other existing iPhones that were in-warranty at the time of the returns to Apple.
“In addition, Apple analyzed a small sampling of iPhones recovered throughout the course of this investigation and confirmed that those phones contained counterfeit components.”
The phones would then be replaced (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Cohen added: “The email addresses provided to Apple in conjunction with the return of these phones were either registered to Sun or known to be used by him.”
Apple is far from the only company to be targeted by this kind of scam.
The scheme, which is known as a ‘return fraud’ reportedly cost companies in the US some $101 billion in 2023 according to data from the National Retail Foundation.
This meant that retailers can lose an average of $13.70 for every $100 of products that are returned to them.
Sun and Xue were arrested in December 2019 and were convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud.
Sun was sentenced to 4.5 years in jail and ordered to pay Apple $1,072,200 in restitution, while Xue was sentenced to four years and ordered to pay $397,800.
