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💰 Google has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit over Google Assistant with a $68m payout
👂 The lawsuit alleges that Google Assistant was inadvertently triggered on the claimant’s devices, leading to it recording private conversations
🧑⚖️ The settlement was filed this past Friday and requires approval from a US District Judge
🤔 It’s alleged that lawyers for the plaintiffs may ask for a third of the settlement in legal fees, working out to around $22m
Google has agreed to settle a $68m class action lawsuit over claims it secretly listened to people’s private conversations through their phones.
The lawsuit alleges that Google Assistant recorded private conversations after it had been inadvertently triggered on people’s devices.
Traditionally, smart assistants such as Google Assistant, Alexa, or Siri require a ‘wake’ word in order for the system to activate and start listening in.
Once the wake word is said – for Google Assistant, it’s “Hey, Google” – then the phone or device that you’re using Google Assistant on will record what it hears and send it to Google’s servers, where it can be analyzed.
The lawsuit claims that Google Assistant would sometimes activate by mistake, recording conversations that were intended to be private, and that these recordings were sent to advertisers to create targeted advertising.
The $68m settlement was filed on Friday in a federal court in California requires approval by US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman.
As the claim is a class action lawsuit, it means that if approved, the money would be paid out across multiple claimants, rather than to one person specifically. Those eligible for a payout will have owned Google devices dating back to May 2016.
With this in mind, the lawyers for the plaintiffs may ask for up to a third of the settlement, resulting in around $22m in legal fees.
We’ve seen a lot of class action lawsuits emerge in recent times, with the likes of Sony facing accusations that it kept PlayStation Plus prices “artificially high”, while Apple has been hit with a similar claim for Siri listening in, to which it agreed to pay $95m to claimants.
Up next: Samsung Galaxy S26’s new privacy feature shields your phone from shoulder surfers
Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.
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