Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the company of improperly monitoring smartphone users through its voice assistant, violating their privacy rights.
According to court documents, a settlement agreement to resolve a collective lawsuit was submitted to the federal court in San Jose, California last Friday, January 23, and it requires approval from U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman.
Smartphone users allege that once the “Google Assistant” feature on their phones is activated, Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, illegally records and disseminates private conversations for targeted advertising purposes.
The design of Google Assistant is intended to activate when users say “Hey Google” or “Okay Google” to awaken the device, similar to Apple’s Siri function.
The lawsuit claims that Google Assistant should only begin recording when users say the wake words or manually press the device button, but it improperly recorded private conversations when users did not use those wake words to trigger it. Users of Google smartphones, smart speakers, laptops, tablets, Chromecast media players, and even wireless headphones were unknowingly recorded during private conversations.
Users have reported receiving targeted ads based on their everyday conversations, even when they did not attempt to wake their devices with the wake words.
Google did not admit fault in the court documents but stated that they decided to settle with the plaintiffs to avoid the risks, costs, and uncertainties of a protracted legal battle.
In a similar issue involving Siri functionality, Apple reached a $95 million settlement agreement with smartphone users in December 2024.
The settlement agreement with Google covers users who have purchased Google devices or have experienced such situations since May 18, 2016.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers may seek up to one-third of the settlement amount as legal fees, totaling approximately $22.7 million.
(With reference to Reuters reporting)