Google agrees to $68 million settlement in voice assistant privateness lawsuit

Google has agreed to a $68 million settlement relating to claims that its voice assistant inappropriately spied on smartphone customers. Plaintiffs claimed that the corporate’s Google Assistant platform started listening to them after it misheard conversations that seemed like its wake phrases. The swimsuit argued that non-public data that Google Assistant should not have heard was then used to ship these people focused advertisements.

Reuters reported that Google denied wrongdoing within the swimsuit, however in line with courtroom papers, the corporate agreed to a settlement as a way to keep away from the danger and prices of litigating the problem. The preliminary class motion settlement was filed on Friday and now awaits approval from U.S. District Choose Beth Labson Freeman.

Google has been transitioning away from the Google Assistant platform prior to now yr, replacing it with its Gemini instrument. Not that AI chatbots must be trusted as paragons of privateness both.

Apple confronted a really comparable allegations round its Siri voice assistant in 2019; that class-action swimsuit resulted in a $95 million settlement in January 2025. Undecided if a reward of $20 per device feels enough when these corporations are by accident overhearing deeply private conversations and particulars, however that is how the justice system shakes out some instances.