Apple has agreed to pay more than $150 million ($US95 million) to settle a lawsuit which alleged the tech giant eavesdropped on its users and passed on voice recordings to advertisers.

The lawsuit was launched five years ago, with lead plaintiff Fumiko Lopez alleging that her and her daughter were recorded without their consent by Apple’s virtual assistant Siri.

They also allege that they were then served targeted advertisements after they talked about certain products, such as Air Jordans.

The class action lawsuit alleged that Apple had “recorded, disclosed to third parties, or failed to delete, conversations recorded as a result of a Siri activation” without the consent of individuals.

The settlement, which still needs to be approved by a US district judge, will see tens of millions of eligible Apple device owners or users eligible for compensation of up to $32 ($US20) for each Siri-enabled device they owned between 2014 and 2019.

As part of the proposal, Apple has not admitted any wrongdoing and continues to deny claims that it recorded users without their consent or passed these recordings on to third-party advertisers.

Apple has also said it has deleted all Siri audio recordings collected from before October 2019.

Hey Siri

The legal action involves accidental activations of the Siri feature by users saying something other than the phrase “hey Siri”.

It claimed that “confidential or private communications were obtained by Apple and / or were shared with third parties without their consent as a result of an unintended Siri activation”.

It was launched after a report by The Guardian in 2019 that Siri was commonly being activated by mistake, with even the noise of a zipper capable of turning on the virtual assistant.

The report also alleged that third party contractors enlisted by Apple would “regularly hear confidential medical information, drug deals and recordings of couples having sex”, while conducting quality control.

If the settlement is approved by a judge next month, tens of millions of Apple users will be eligible for the payout.

The $150 million fund will only be open to US-based individuals who used a Siri-enabled device from 2014.

They will have to swear under oath that they accidentally activated Siri during a conversation that was intended to be private and confidential.

As part of the class action, the lawyers are able to take 30 per cent of the fees plus expenses, equating to just under $48 million ($US30 million).

Apple’s legal fights

Apple is facing a number of lawsuits and legal actions around the world.

Late last year, the tech behemoth was accused of illegally surveilling its own workers by snooping on their personal and work devices.

The action accused Apple of the “systematic invasion of employee privacy” and monetising the personal data of its workers.

The company requires its staff to use Apple devices, software and services, whether this is on a work or personal phone, and then the data on these devices is “subject to search by Apple”, the lawsuit alleged.

In June last year Apple become the first company charged with violating the European Union’s new Digital Markets Act after it was accused of restricting third-party app developers from directing users to cheaper software marketplaces outside of the App Store.

Apple is also facing an antitrust lawsuit that was filed by the US government in March last year.

The case accuses Apple of running an illegal iPhone monopoly that has created higher prices and less innovation for consumers.

It’s unclear how the antitrust efforts of the Biden government will continue under the new Trump regime.