Understanding the Lopez Voice Assistant settlement and its validity

Note that to make a claim, you have to file a claim form on time … and

"The Claim Form requires that you confirm or update your current contact information and confirm the following under oath: from September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024 (i) you purchased or owned Siri Device in the United States or its territories and enabled Siri on that device, (ii) you experienced an unintended Siri activation, and (iii) the unintended Siri activation you experienced occurred during a conversation intended to be confidential or private."

https://lopezvoiceassistantsettlement.com/faqs

That is, you don't get money merely for owning a Siri-capable device, or for having it listening all of the time, waiting for you to say "Hey, Siri". Or even for it trying to interpret non-confidential conversation as a command.

You have to confirm under oath, with penalties for perjury, that there was an unintentional activation which resulted in Siri trying to interpret a confidential and private conversation as a command.

Jeff Donald wrote:

• No, that’s incorrect. The $95 million is the amount set aside for the settlement to the class members. The attorney fees, court and administrative costs are not subtracted from that amount.

…

https://lopezvoiceassistantsettlement.com/

The $95 million is not all for the settlement for the class members. The plaintiffs' attorney fees, litigation costs, and service awards are going to be paid out of the $95 million.

You can confirm this by skimming the Important Documents on the site (such as the Settlement Agreement and Release) and by looking at the FAQ.

"Apple will pay $95 million into a settlement fund. After deduction of the costs of notice and settlement administration, taxes, any award of attorneys’ fees, litigation costs, and any Service Awards for the Class Representatives, the Net Settlement Amount will be distributed to Settlement Class Members in accordance with a plan of allocation that accounts for the number of valid claims submitted by the Settlement Class Members."

https://lopezvoiceassistantsettlement.com/faqs – item #7: "What does the Settlement provide"

There is a new document on that page, dated today, called the "Plaintiff's Counsel's Notice of Motion and Motion for Attorney's Fees and Expenses and Plaintiff's Application for Service Awards." It appears that the lawyers are still applying for 30% of the $95 million for Attorney's Fees, and up to $10,000 each for the Class Representatives, but are now only applying for $916,125.83 in litigation expenses (as opposed to $1,100,000.00 mentioned in the "Motion for Preliminary Approval."

No, that’s incorrect. The $95 million is the amount set aside for the settlement to the class members. The attorney fees, court and administrative costs are not subtracted from that amount.

• “The Settlement provides for a $95 million fund for payments to Settlement Class Members who are individual current or former owners or purchasers of a Siri Device, who reside in the United States or its territories, and whose confidential communications were obtained by Apple and/or were shared with third parties as a result of an unintended Siri activation. The Settlement Class excludes Apple; any entity in which Apple has a controlling interest; Apple’s directors, officers, and employees; Apple’s legal representatives, successors, and assigns. Also excluded from the Settlement Class are all judicial officers assigned to this case as well as their staff and immediate families. The Class Period is September 17, 2014 to December 31, 2024.”

https://lopezvoiceassistantsettlement.com/

Yes, it’s real. There are limitations, so review the website and terms and conditions. The maximum payment is $20 per device and a limit of 5 devices, so potentially $100 USD. The payment is reduced by number of applicants.

Let’s do some math. The total amount allocated is $95 million USD. If 1,000,000 people apply and qualify, it’s $95 per person and depending on devices will be less than maximum possible settlement amount. If 100,000,000 apply, it’s less than $1 USD per device.

The bottom line, read the requirements and limitations and decide if potentially $.95 USD is worth the time and effort. Settlement could be more or could be less.

DeniseAndKing wrote:

I’m not here to debate. I used to be into debating, but unfortunately I lost my ability to debate. But that’s another story.

I only wanted to explain that I had gotten way more than a lot of people seem to think these kinds of settlements involve. I used to think I would be lucky to get a penny, but as I said, I got $468 last year from two settlements.

The email from the settlement administrator says that Apple’s records indicate that I may be a settlement class member, so they have access to some kind of records and that’s enough for me. Like I said I’m not here to debate anything. I only wanted to let people know that there is more money involved in these settlements than many people think.

The maximum anyone can get is $100 and that is only if they claim 5 devices which is all anyone can claim. Otherwise, it's up to $20 for one device. Not exactly a huge payday and they also have to certify under oath they experienced at least one unintended Siri Activation and that one of the activations occurred during a conversation intended to confidential or private.

Honestly, how many people can claim UNDER OATH this happened to them? Siri, like all digital assistants is listening. That's what they do. But they generally don't wake up unless we say "Hey Siri" or "Siri." There are however words which can sound similar to Siri, which could wake her. Just like when my niece Alexis visits, Alexa on my Echo devices often wakes when I say her name in a conversation. Nothing nefarious. This entire case is nothing more than fodder. But sure, people will line up for a payout, even if they really don't deserve one.

tanakaP wrote:

That’s just an assumption, there is no evidence that was any judges order

Wrong. A copy of the Preliminary Approval Order with the judge's signature on it is available on the settlement site. Both that approval order, and the settlement agreement, call for Apple to provide contact information to the settlement administrators.

DeniseAndKing wrote:

The point is that Siri was also being activated without my knowledge. I didn’t consent to that part.

There is a big difference between Siri activating and Apple recording your conversations. Siri will activate when it hears its activation word. That is true for all personal assistants, and if you chose to set it up to activate when it hears the activation word then you went through that setup process. If you say the word "serious" with the emphasis on "SERIous", then yes Siri may activate, but that does not mean your conversation was recorded.

There was a time when I wasn’t aware of the setting and certain settings were on by default

Not the setting referred to at Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Improve Siri & Dictation. That was turned off by default and if you did not turn it on, you can check your device now to verify that it is still turned off.

My recommendations:

• If you agree to the 3 statements under penalty of perjury as stated on the claim form, then file the claim.
• Turn off Siri immediately, as the function of Siri has not changed and there is no requirement for it to do so. It will continue to activate for any word that is interpreted as the activation word, such as the example above, if you choose to leave it on. When setting up a device, choose the "Not now" option when asked if you want to set up Siri.

DeniseAndKing wrote:

The settlement administrators likely already have information that shows you qualify or they wouldn’t have contacted you with a claim code.

If you are eligible to make a claim, there's a good chance you will receive mail from the Settlement Administrators. But just receiving mail from them does not mean that you qualify.

You only qualify if you can truthfully claim, under oath, that Siri accidentally activated and then overheard a private and confidential conversation. The Administrators have no way of knowing if that happened or not, and it seems a pretty safe bet that it didn't happen to most of the people they will be contacting.

Yes it is real, here is the page to submit a claim -

https://lopezvoiceassistantsettlement.com/submit-claim

Jeff Donald wrote:

Because millions of users are potentially eligible and using multiple device.

Also, keep in mind that $95 million is the Gross Settlement Amount.

Based on the proposed settlement agreement, and on a FAQ on the settlement site, it looks like

• The class action lawyers could take up to $29.6 million for themselves. (They're asking for up to 30% of the settlement as attorneys' fees, and up to $1.1 million for litigation expenses. All of this that the Court approves will come out of the $95 million.)
• The two named plaintiffs("Class Representatives") could get up to $10,000 in "Service Awards", each.
• The Settlement Administrator "has agreed to perform all settlement notice and administration duties required by the Settlement Agreement at a cost of approximately $5,975,000." Again, these fees come out of the $95 million, and actual fees could be higher if the estimate is wrong, and the Administrator can justify higher ones.

That's up to $35,595,000 "off the top". In which case there might be only $59,405,000 (total) available to make payments to people filing valid claims.

In my experience Apple does issue a statement. But the court has not agreed to the final settlement yet. The court date is in early to mid August as I recall. It’s still possible Apple will appeal the court decision and that’ll throw a wrench in all this.

"The bottom line, read the requirements and limitations and decide if potentially $.95 USD is worth the time and effort. Settlement could be more or could be less."

This is not accurate. The last time something like this happened and I filed a claim, I got paid twice! The second time was for all those people who did not file a claim or did not cash their checks. The second check was almost as big as the first.

Do not be mislead by this. FILE YOUR CLAIM!

That’s just an assumption, there is no evidence that was any judges order

You’ve it backwards and Servant of Cats already explained you can check and see exactly who the judge ordered to have the customers info and send notices from. I totally get how it can look like a scam, but in these types of cases it is never the company being sued that sends the email.

If you live in USA territory you might get a few bucks, you will be contacted.

Claim form for apple Siri settlement - Apple Community