Google pays $68M to settle claims its voice assistant spied on users
Yahoo Finance·2026-01-27 00:43

Core Viewpoint - Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle claims regarding its voice assistant allegedly spying on users for advertising purposes [1][2] Group 1: Settlement Details - The settlement is part of a class-action case that accused Google of unlawfully intercepting and recording users' confidential communications without consent [2] - Google did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement [2] Group 2: Allegations and Context - The lawsuit claimed that Google Assistant activated and recorded communications without users' intentional prompts, referred to as "false accepts" [2] - This case reflects a broader trend of legal claims against tech companies regarding privacy violations, with Apple previously settling a similar case for $95 million in 2021 [3] Group 3: Previous Legal Issues - Google has faced other privacy-related litigation, including a $1.4 billion settlement with the state of Texas for violating data privacy laws [4]