Apple’s Siri Devices Record Conversations Without Consent, Alleges Complaint

Apple’s “intentional recording of individuals’ confidential communications without their consent” using Siri voice-recognition software violates California privacy and unfair-competition laws, alleged a complaint Wednesday (in Pacer) in U.S. District Court in San Jose that seeks class-action status. A July 26 article in The Guardian reported Apple “has been recording individuals without consent and has been storing and sending those recordings to humans for review,” said the complaint. Siri devices continuously record consumers’ conversations, including when they fail “to utter a wake phrase,” it said. The complaint estimates the potential class to include all individuals who were recorded on a Siri device without their consent “from at least as early” as October 2011 to the present. It asks the court to order Apple to delete all recordings and to pay “nominal, statutory, and punitive” damages. Apple didn’t comment.