Lopez et al v. Apple Inc.
The 2019 California labor class action lawsuit stems from a whistleblower complaint via The Guardian that Apple contractors heard voice recordings while testing for quality control. This included "confidential medical information, drug deals, and recordings of couples having sex," according to the investigation. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said in September 2021 that the plaintiffs could try to prove Siri routinely recorded their private conversations because of "accidental activations," and that Apple disclosed these conversations to third parties, such as advertisers, reported Reuters.
Such “accidental activations” are commonplace. According to the complaint, Siri can be activated by nearly anything, including '[t]he sound of a zip' or an individual raising their arms and speaking…Once activated, Siri records everything within range of the Siri Devices’ microphone and sends it to Apple’s servers."
Two plaintiffs said their mentions of Air Jordan sneakers, Pit Viper sunglasses and Olive Garden restaurants triggered ads for those products. Another Siri user said he got ads for a brand name surgical treatment after discussing it, he thought privately, with his doctor.
Apple told The Guardian that its contractors heard voice recordings while testing for quality control. The whistleblower, however, said that, “There have been countless instances of recordings featuring private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, seemingly criminal dealings, sexual encounters and so on. These recordings are accompanied by user data showing location, contact details, and app data.”
Apple Privacy
It’s ironic that Apple uses privacy as a selling point, so much so that it wields a competitive advantage against Google and Amazon. (Google is also facing a similar class action lawsuit regarding Google Assistant being triggered without its wake words.) For instance, Apple bought a billboard at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with the catch-phrase, “What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone”. In 2018, Apple was marketing itself with the slogan “Privacy. That’s iPhone.”
Last month another privacy lawsuit was filed by an Apple employee accusing the tech giant of spying on its workers and violating workers’ privacy rights via their personal iCloud accounts and non-work devices.
Apple Users
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The case is Lopez et al. v. Apple Inc., Case No. 4:19-cv-04577 (N.D. Cal.);