Apple agrees to pay 140 billion won to 'listen to Siri' privacy infringement lawsuit

The Associated Press and other foreign media reported that Apple has agreed to pay consumers a large amount of money in a lawsuit filed over allegations that it collected personal information without users' knowledge through Siri, a voice assistant installed on iPhones and other devices.

According to the Associated Press, Apple submitted a preliminary agreement worth a total of $95 million and about 140 billion won to the federal court in Oakland, California, on the 31st of last month.

According to the agreement, consumers who used Siri-equipped Apple devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches from Sept. 17, 2014, to last year will be eligible for a $20 settlement per device.

The maximum number of devices that can receive a settlement fee is limited to five per person.

Claimants must also prove that they have purchased and owned the device within U.S. territory and that Siri has been activated on the device without consent.

Claimants in the lawsuit claimed that Siri was secretly activated and overheard the user's conversation, even though Siri was not called out via voice, and some of the conversations were shared with companies for use in advertising and others.

The lawsuit included cases in which users received targeted advertisements for Nike sneakers "Air Jordan," which were included in the contents after talking near Apple devices.

Claimants argued that these cases were a direct violation of Apple's long-standing personal protection policy, which Apple CEO Tim Cook has described as a "struggle to protect basic human rights."

Apple, however, did not acknowledge these claimants' claims in the settlement.

The agreement must be approved by the court before it becomes effective.

Apple predicts that only 3% to 5% of consumers who qualify for claims will demand an actual settlement.

"This settlement is only a fraction of Apple's $75 billion (about 1,37 trillion won) in profits since September 2014," the Associated Press said. "It is only a fraction of the $1.5 billion (about 2.2 trillion won) that Apple is estimated to have to pay if it is found to have violated the Personal Information Protection Act."