Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant unlawfully recorded users’ private conversations without consent, according to Reuters.
The lawsuit accused the tech giant of intentionally intercepting and recording confidential communications and sharing data derived from those recordings with third parties, including for targeted advertising. Google denied any wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
At the center of the case were so-called “false accepts,” instances in which Google Assistant allegedly activated and recorded audio without being prompted by a wake word. Plaintiffs argued that information captured during these incidents was improperly transmitted to third parties.
The settlement adds to a growing list of privacy-related cases against major technology firms. In 2021, Apple agreed to pay $95 million to resolve similar claims involving its Siri voice assistant. Last year, Google also agreed to pay $1.4 billion to the state of Texas to settle lawsuits alleging violations of state data privacy laws.
