Apple clarified on Wednesday that it has never sold data collected by its Siri voice assistant or used it to create marketing profiles.
The statement follows the settlement of a $95 million class action lawsuit alleging that Siri recorded private conversations unintentionally and disclosed them to third parties, including advertisers.
The company denied these claims and did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, which could provide tens of millions of Apple customers up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, such as iPhones and Apple Watches. Voice assistants like Siri typically activate when users say “hot words” such as “Hey, Siri.”
“Apple has never used Siri data to build marketing profiles, never made it available for advertising, and never sold it to anyone for any purpose,” the company said. The statement was issued after some interpreted the settlement as an admission of guilt.
Apple explained that certain features require real-time input from its servers, and Siri only uses the minimum amount of data needed to deliver accurate results. “Apple does not retain audio recordings of Siri interactions unless users explicitly opt in to help improve Siri, and even then, the recordings are used solely for that purpose,” the company added, emphasizing its commitment to user privacy.
A similar lawsuit involving Google’s Voice Assistant is pending in federal court in San Jose, California, with the plaintiffs represented by the same law firms involved in the Apple case.
