Google to pay $68M to settle assistant privacy lawsuit

Google agreed to pay $68 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that its voice-activated assistant spied inappropriately on smartphone users, violating their privacy.

A preliminary class action settlement was filed on Jan. 23 in the San Jose, California federal court, and requires approval by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman.

Smartphone users accused Google, a unit of Alphabet, of illegally recording and disseminating private conversations after Google Assistant was triggered, in order to send them targeted advertising.

Google Assistant is designed to react when people use “hot words” such as “Hey Google” or “Okay Google,” similar to Apple’s Siri.

Users objected to receiving ads after Google Assistant misperceived what they said as hot words, known as “false accepts.”

Apple reached a similar $95 million settlement with smartphone users in December 2024.

Google denied wrongdoing, but settled to avoid the risk, cost and uncertainty of litigation, court papers show.  The Mountain View, California-based company declined to comment on Jan. 26.

The settlement covers people who bought Google devices or were subjected to false accepts since May 18, 2016, court papers show.

Lawyers for plaintiffs may seek up to one-third of the settlement fund, or about $22.7 million, for legal fees.