$95 million is a headline-making number, especially when it comes as a result of a proposed class action lawsuit settlement in which claimants accused Apple of unlawfully surveilling them through Siri and other Apple devices. If the settlement is approved by the district court in Oakland, California, overseeing the case, people who owned a Siri between September 17, 2014, and December 31, 2024, and who believe they experienced an “unintended Siri activation,” will be able to file a claim for $20 as compensation.

The lawsuit began in 2019 after a Guardian investigation in which a whistleblower came forward to allege “countless instances” in which Apple devices, including Siri and the Apple Watch, had inadvertently listened in on users. At the time, Apple had staffed numerous third-party contractors to listen to the devices, which included the inadvertently obtained data — though it claimed this was only for purposes of improving them, not, as many litigants alleged, selling the data to advertisers.

The company quickly stopped the practice, though not before public debate about whether Siri was really spying on its users became widespread. After all, this wouldn’t be the first time a tech company had been accused of audio surveilling its users without their knowledge or consent. Not only that, but a nearly identical lawsuit concerning Google’s Voice Assistant, filed in the same court and likely to result in a similar settlement, is waiting in the wings.

What’s happening with all of these audio devices? Are Amazon and Microsoft listening in as well? And does this all actually constitute a serious breach of privacy?

The answers to these questions are simultaneously simple and complicated. The experts Vox spoke with to find out more told us that the public outcry over Siri’s data collection may all be much ado about, relatively, nothing.

Ah, but it’s the relativity that’s the concerning part. The reason Siri’s data collection may not matter in the bigger picture isn’t because it’s not potentially harmful or unethical.

It’s because it’s just a drop in the bucket.

We probably won’t know the extent of Apple’s audio surveillance

The ongoing anxiety over the potentially invasive practices of large tech companies like Apple and Google may have distorted our understanding........

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