Google has settled a lawsuit involving its Google Assistant virtual helper for $68 million. The latter was accused of spying on smartphone users and violating their privacy. Google, a unit of Alphabet, supposedly recorded private conversations held after Google Assistant turned on after it thought that it heard one of the hotwords that activates the feature even though one was never said. This is an action known as a "false accept. The hotwords include "Hello Google," and "Google."
The Google Assistant would activate by mistake and record a private conversation
After the Assistant misheard what it thought was a hotword, the user would receive targeted advertisements. A preliminary class action lawsuit was filed late Friday in San Jose, California federal court. It requires approval by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman. Even though Google denied committing any wrongdoing, it said that it decided to settle the suit anyway to eliminate the potential risk, cost, and uncertainty of a trial, according to court papers.
Google Assistant is behind a $68 million settlement that will be split among Google device users. | Image credit-PhoneArena
In December 2024, Apple settled a similar lawsuit that accused its digital assistant Siri of spying on users of the iPhone and other Apple devices. The legal action accused Apple of using Siri to listen in on conversations for over a decade. Like Google Assistant is accused of doing, Siri would be activated, turn on and record private conversations even if the "Hey Siri" or "Siri" hotwords weren't spoken. These conversations were supposedly played for advertisers to help them find consumers who might be more receptive to listening to their ads.
Attorneys will receive $22.7 million from the settlement fund
The Google settlement covers people who purchased Google devices or were the victim of false accepts from Google Assistant since May 18th, 2016. While Google agreed to settle for $68 million, members of the class will not be dividing up that amount. You see, up to one-third of the settlement fund will be reserved for legal fees. That amount comes to $22.7 million.
Will you file a claim in this class action suit?
If the class action is approved by Judge Freeman, members of the class will be allowed to file claims for up to three Google devices. The amount of the settlement that Google device users receive will be determined by the number of legitimate claims received by the court from Google device users. Once the class action is approved, you'll receive an email at the email address associated with your Google account, or via a notification from your Google Home or Google Assistant app.
Those who submitted a valid claim in Google's $700 million class action suit are expected to receive $2 each
Unlike Google's $700 million class action settlement, which is expected to automatically be sent to valid claimants via an email address that Google already has "on file" for them, you will have to file a claim for your slice of the $68 million. Don't expect to get rich from this settlement unless your idea of rich is being able to afford a couple of tacos from Taco Bell. In Apple's $95 class action settlement that we referenced earlier in this article, members of the class received payments in a range between $8 and $40 per person.
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The aforementioned $700 million settlement fund created by Google, which was accused in that case of manipulating app prices higher, will reportedly payout only $2 for each court-accepted claim. In a class action suit, one person or group, sues on behalf of a larger number of people or groups suffering from the same problem.
Despite the large amount of money placed into settlement funds, there are usually huge numbers of claims received by the courts. Add to that the massive legal fees paid to the attorneys, and you'll see that class action suits are more about making lawyers wealthier than they are legal mechanisms for helping consumers get justice for an issue that negatively
impacted them.
We will be staying on top of this lawsuit and as soon as you will be able to file a claim with the court, we will let you know. Stay with us!
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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