Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant illegally spied on smartphone users, violating their privacy. The preliminary settlement was filed late Friday in San Jose Federal Court in California, pending approval by Judge Beth Labson Freeman.
The lawsuit, brought forth by users, accuses Alphabet-owned Google of unlawfully recording and disseminating private conversations after the Google Assistant was activated, with the alleged intent of targeting them with personalized advertisements. The voice assistant is activated when users say trigger words like “Hey Google” or “Okay Google,” similar to Apple’s Siri assistant.
Plaintiffs claimed they received targeted advertising as a result of “false activations,” where the Assistant mistakenly interpreted their speech as trigger words, leading to the recording of their private conversations without explicit consent. Apple previously agreed to a similar settlement of $95 million in December 2024.
Google has denied any wrongdoing but agreed to the settlement to avoid the risks, costs, and uncertainties associated with litigation, according to court documents. The company has not issued any official comment on the matter.
The settlement covers all users who purchased Google devices or experienced such activations since May 18, 2016. Plaintiffs’ attorneys may seek up to one-third of the settlement amount, approximately $22.7 million, in legal fees.
This settlement once again highlights concerns about user privacy and how major technology companies handle personal data. It underscores the importance of transparency and user control over data collection practices by tech giants.
DZWatch will continue to monitor this case and provide updates as they become available.
