{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-11-07T03:09:28.593Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"health","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2019","response":"lawsuit","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":0,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":1,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":0,"contextualRelations":1,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2019-apple-siri-accidental-activations-recorded-private-conversations-heard-by-contractors-95-million-settlement","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'a small proportion of Siri recordings are passed on to contractors working for the company around the world. They are tasked with grading the responses on a variety of factors, including whether the activation of the voice assistant was deliberate or accidental'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'part of our Siri quality evaluation process — which we call grading'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"A small proportion of Siri recordings was passed to contractors who graded them.","causal_attribution":"The Guardian's report and Apple's own statement both describe human grading of Siri audio."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Siri can be accidentally activated when it mistakenly hears its “wake word”, the phrase “hey Siri”.'; '“The sound of a zip, Siri often hears as a trigger,” the contractor said.'; '“The regularity of accidental triggers on the watch is incredibly high,” they said.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Our team will work to delete any recording which is determined to be an inadvertent trigger of Siri.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Siri sometimes activated without being deliberately invoked and recorded audio that reached Apple; according to the contractor, the sound of a zip was often heard as a trigger and accidental triggers on the Apple Watch were very frequent.","causal_attribution":"The trigger examples are the contractor's account; Apple's undertaking to delete inadvertent-trigger recordings confirms that such recordings were held, without giving their frequency."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'There have been countless instances of recordings featuring private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, seemingly criminal dealings, sexual encounters and so on. These recordings are accompanied by user data showing location, contact details, and app data.'; 'Accidental activations led to the receipt of the most sensitive data that was sent to Apple.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the contractor, recordings from accidental activations included private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, apparently criminal dealings and sexual encounters, accompanied by location, contact details and app data.","causal_attribution":"A single anonymous contractor's account, relayed by the Guardian."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'User requests are not associated with the user’s Apple ID.'; 'a very small random subset, less than 1% of daily Siri activations, are used for grading'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Apple told the Guardian that Siri requests were not associated with the user's Apple ID and that less than 1% of daily Siri activations were used for grading.","causal_attribution":"Apple's statement to the Guardian; context and counterevidence on identifiability and scale."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'immediately suspended human grading of Siri requests'; 'we realize we haven’t been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologize.'; 'by default, we will no longer retain audio recordings of Siri interactions.'; 'users will be able to opt in to help Siri improve by learning from the audio samples of their requests.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Apple said it had suspended human grading of Siri requests, apologised for not fully living up to its ideals, and said it would by default no longer retain audio recordings, would make audio grading opt-in and would work to delete recordings determined to be inadvertent triggers.","causal_attribution":"Apple's own published statement establishes what Apple said and undertook."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Mobile device owners complained that Apple routinely recorded their private conversations after they activated Siri unintentionally, and disclosed these conversations to third parties such as advertisers.'; 'Two plaintiffs said their mentions of Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden restaurants triggered ads for those products. Another said he got ads for a brand name surgical treatment after discussing it, he thought privately, with his doctor.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"In Lopez et al v. Apple Inc., device owners alleged that Apple routinely recorded their private conversations after they activated Siri unintentionally and disclosed them to third parties such as advertisers; two plaintiffs said mentions of products triggered ads for them, and another said he got ads for a surgical treatment after discussing it with his doctor.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiffs' allegations as reported by Reuters; not established."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'agreed to pay $95 million in cash to settle a proposed class action lawsuit'; 'The class period runs from Sept. 17, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2024.'; 'may receive up to $20 per Siri-enabled device'; 'Apple denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Apple agreed to pay $95 million in cash to settle the class action, covering a class period from 17 September 2014 to 31 December 2024 with up to $20 per Siri-enabled device, and denied wrongdoing.","causal_attribution":"Reuters' report of the preliminary settlement filing; the filing itself was not read."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White granted final approval on October 16, 2025, of Plaintiffs’ $95 million settlement with Apple'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Co-class counsel say Judge Jeffrey S. White granted final approval of the $95 million settlement on 16 October 2025.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiffs' counsel's statement; the court order was not read, and other summaries give September or 14 October 2025 dates."}],"effects":[{"label":"Private conversations captured by accidental Siri activations and heard by contract graders, according to a contractor","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/26/apple-contractors-regularly-hear-confidential-details-on-siri-recordings","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-29 (theguardian.com, HTTP 200). No translation was needed; the research agent (an AI) read the text directly.","independence_group":"guardian-siri-contractor"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/08/improving-siris-privacy-protections/","kind":"company_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-29 (apple.com, HTTP 200); the page gives its date as 28 August 2019. No translation was needed.","independence_group":"apple-statement-siri-grading"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-pay-95-million-settle-151238610.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-29 (finance.yahoo.com syndication of the Reuters report, HTTP 200; reuters.com returned 401). No translation was needed.","independence_group":"reuters-lopez-settlement"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://lowey.com/news/the-courts-granted-final-approval-for-apple-siri-litigation-for-95-million/","kind":"law_firm_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-29 (lowey.com, HTTP 200). The post carries no publication date of its own; the court order itself was not read. No translation was needed.","independence_group":"lowey-final-approval"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use","unknown"],"contexts":["privacy","everyday_life","health"],"unknowns":["How many people were recorded by accidental activations or heard by graders.","Whether any recorded person was identified or harmed beyond the capture and listening described.","Whether the plaintiffs' advert allegations were ever substantiated; Apple denied wrongdoing.","The exact final-approval date in the court record (counsel gives 16 October 2025; the order was not read)."],"geography":{"basis":"The class action was in the US District Court for the Northern District of California (Oakland), per Reuters and co-class counsel. The Guardian says the contractors worked around the world and does not say where the recorded people were; no event or affected-person country is stated.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as private conversations captured into an AI voice assistant without the speakers' knowledge: Siri's wake-word detection activated by mistake and graders heard the recordings, according to the Guardian's contractor source, and Apple acknowledged inadvertent-trigger recordings, apologised and changed its grading. The class action allegations are attributed to the plaintiffs; Apple settled for $95 million while denying wrongdoing.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Siri's own wake-word and raise-to-speak detection activated by mistake: the Guardian's contractor source says the sound of a zip was often heard as the trigger and accidental triggers on the Apple Watch were very frequent, and Apple undertook to delete recordings determined to be inadvertent triggers. The audio Siri captured on those activations was sent to Apple and a share was passed to contract graders, who, according to the contractor, heard doctor-patient discussions, business deals and sexual encounters with location and contact data attached. That capture into the assistant and disclosure to graders without the speakers knowing is the privacy harm recorded here; the plaintiffs' further claim that recordings led to targeted adverts is an allegation that Apple denied in settling.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["received_personal_information"]},"name":"Whistleblower says accidental Siri activations recorded private conversations heard by Apple contract graders; Apple apologised and later settled class suit","summary":"On 26 July 2019 the Guardian reported that contractors grading a small share of Siri recordings for Apple regularly heard confidential information. Its anonymous source, a contractor, said Siri was often activated by mistake, for example by the sound of a zip, and that these accidental activations captured private discussions between doctors and patients, business deals, apparently criminal dealings and sexual encounters, with location, contact details and app data attached. Apple told the Guardian that requests were not linked to users' Apple IDs and that less than 1% of daily activations were graded. On 28 August 2019 Apple apologised, said it had suspended human grading, and said audio would no longer be retained by default, grading would become opt-in and recordings found to be inadvertent triggers would be deleted. Device owners' class action, Lopez v. Apple in the federal court in Oakland, alleged that Apple recorded private conversations after unintended Siri activations and disclosed them to third parties. Apple agreed to pay $95 million while denying wrongdoing, and co-class counsel say the judge granted final approval on 16 October 2025.","incidentDate":"2019-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2019-07-26","aiSystem":"Siri, Apple's voice assistant on iPhone, Apple Watch and HomePod, with wake-word (\"Hey Siri\") detection and raise-to-speak activation; a small share of its audio recordings was passed to contract graders","aiProduct":"Siri","aiCompany":"Apple","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A Guardian contractor source says accidental Siri activations recorded private conversations, including doctor-patient talk, that contract graders heard; Apple apologised, and settled a class suit for $95 million (loss of privacy).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"unquantified","affectedCountEvidence":"The Guardian's contractor source describes \"countless instances\" of recordings of private conversations from accidental Siri activations but gives no number of people heard. Reuters reports that class members are estimated in the tens of millions; that is the size of the settlement class of device owners, not a count of people whose conversations were recorded or heard. No reliable count exists, so the count is unquantified with zero placeholders.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"lawsuit_settled","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jul/26/apple-contractors-regularly-hear-confidential-details-on-siri-recordings","primarySourceLabel":"The Guardian (Alex Hern), 26 July 2019: Apple contractors 'regularly hear confidential details' on Siri recordings","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-29T03:10:14.834844+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-29T03:10:14.834844+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["voice-assistant","false-activation","human-review","privacy","class-action","settlement"]}]}