Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant spied on smartphone users, violating their privacy, UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
Details
A preliminary class-action settlement was filed late Friday in federal court in San Jose, California, and requires approval from U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman.
Smartphone users accused Google, a division of Alphabet, of illegally recording and sharing private conversations after launching Google Assistant to send them targeted ads.
Google Assistant is designed to respond when people use "hot words" like "Hey Google" or "Okay Google," similar to Apple's Siri.
Users objected to receiving ads after Google Assistant mistakenly interpreted what they said as hot words, known as "false accepts."
Apple reached a similar $95 million settlement with smartphone users in December 2024.
Google denied wrongdoing but entered into the settlement to avoid the risk, expense, and uncertainty of litigation, court documents show.
According to court documents, the settlement covers people who purchased Google devices or were victims of "false accepts" since May 18, 2016.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs may seek up to one-third of the settlement fund, or about $22.7 million, for legal fees.