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Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the company used its Google Assistant to snoop on customers without their consent, Reuters reports.
The lawsuit dates back to 2021 and stems from a 2019 news story from Belgium's VRT NWS that said the Google Assistant was recording user conversations even when they didn’t use activation commands like "OK, Google" or "Hey, Google."
The plaintiffs claimed that Google Assistant violated their privacy and that Google was using their recordings to serve targeted ads for financial gain. Notably, VRT NWS’s report was based on accounts from a whistleblower who claimed to have transcribed the recordings while working as a Google subcontractor. According to the insider, the recordings had everything from bedroom conversations to professional meetings.
Google later admitted that many Assistant-enabled devices recorded audio due to “false accepts,” or situations where recordings could be triggered without an activation command.
According to Reuters, Google submitted a settlement proposal in a federal court in San Jose on Friday. It hasn’t admitted to any wrongdoing. If approved by Judge Beth Labson Freeman, the settlement fund would benefit people who bought Google devices with the “false accepts” issue on or after May 18, 2016. Attorneys could take one-third of the settlement fund, or around $22.7 million, as legal fees, the report adds.
Apple settled a similar Siri snooping lawsuit for $95 million in late 2024. Claimants began receiving deposits ranging from $8 to $40 last week. If you see Lopez Voice Assistant in your statements, don’t be surprised. It’s the Siri settlement payout.
Google Assistant, meanwhile, is being retired and replaced by Gemini. It was supposed to happen in 2025, but the switch for mobile was delayed until March 2026.