Google settles lawsuit following allegations of secretly recording smart device users

"Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class action lawsuit arguing that its voice-activated assistant secretly recorded smart device users in violation of their privacy. A preliminary settlement was filed on Friday in San Jose, California, federal court, but still requires approval by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman. The tech giant was accused of illegally recording and disseminating private conversations after its Google Assistant tool was triggered so it could send them targeted advertising."

"Google Assistant, which is only supposed to record when a user says phrases such as "Hey Google," or "Okay Google" or when someone manually pushes a button on the device, inappropriately recorded personal conversations when these "hot words" were not used, without the knowledge of the users of Google smartphones, home speakers, laptops, tablets, Chromecast media players and even wireless earphones, according to the lawsuit."

"Google did not acknowledge any fault, but said it decided to settle to avoid the "uncertainty, risk, expense, inconvenience and distraction" of lengthy litigation, according to court documents. Lawyers for plaintiffs may seek up to one-third of the settlement fund, or about $22.7 million, for legal fees. Apple reached a similar settlement with smartphone users in December 2024 over its virtual assistant, Siri, for $95 million."

Google agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class action alleging that Google Assistant secretly recorded users and violated their privacy. A preliminary settlement was filed in San Jose federal court and requires approval by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman. Plaintiffs alleged the assistant recorded conversations without hot-word activation on smartphones, home speakers, laptops, tablets, Chromecast devices and wireless earphones, and that those recordings led to targeted advertising. Google did not admit fault and said it settled to avoid litigation costs. Plaintiffs' lawyers may seek about $22.7 million in fees. Apple reached a $95 million Siri settlement in December 2024, and Google previously agreed to pay $1.4 billion to Texas over data collection claims.

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