Apple faces voice assistant Siri privacy lawsuit – US judge

Sept. 2 (Reuters) – A federal judge said on Thursday that Apple Inc (AAPL.O) faces virtually all of a proposed class action lawsuit claiming its voice-activated assistant Siri violated users’ privacy.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said plaintiffs could try to prove that Siri routinely recorded their private conversations due to “accidental activations” and that Apple disclosed those conversations to third parties, such as advertisers.

Voice assistants usually respond when owners of mobile devices use “hot words” such as “Hey, Siri”.

One Siri user said his private discussions with his doctor about a “brand name surgical treatment” resulted in him receiving targeted advertisements for the treatment, while two others said their discussions about Air sneakers Jordan, the Pit Viper sunglasses and “Olive Garden” had led them to receive advertisements for these products.

“Apple criticizes the complainants for not alleging the content of their communications, but the private setting alone is enough to show a reasonable expectation of confidentiality,” White wrote.

The Oakland, Calif.-Based judge said plaintiffs could pursue allegations that Apple violated federal wiretapping law and California’s privacy law and breached contract. He dismissed a complaint for unfair competition.

Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., Did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to similar requests.

On July 1, another California federal judge said that users of Google’s voice assistant, represented by the same law firms as in the Apple case, could bring a similar lawsuit against Google and its parent company. Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O). Read more

Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) faced a similar dispute over its voice assistant Alexa.

The case is Lopez et al v. Apple Inc., US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 19-04577.

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio

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