Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the privacy-minded company of deploying its virtual assistant Siri to eavesdrop on people using its iPhone and other trendy devices.
The proposed settlement filed Tuesday in an Oakland, California, federal court would resolve a 5-year-old lawsuit revolving around allegations that Apple surreptitiously activated Siri to record conversations through iPhones and other devices equipped with the virtual assistant for more than a decade.
The alleged recordings occurred even when people didn't seek to activate the virtual assistant with the trigger words, “Hey, Siri." Some of the recorded conversations were then shared with advertisers in an attempt to sell their products to consumers more likely to be interested in the goods and services, the lawsuit asserted.
The allegations about a snoopy Siri contradicted Apple's long-running commitment to protect the privacy of its customers — a crusade that CEO Tim Cook has often framed as a fight to preserve “a fundamental human right.”
Apple isn't acknowledging any wrongdoing in the settlement, which still must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White. Lawyers in the case have proposed scheduling a Feb. 14 court hearing in Oakland to review the terms.
If the settlement is approved, tens of millions of consumers who owned iPhones and other Apple devices from Sept. 17, 2014, through the end of last year could file claims. Each consumer could receive up to $20 per Siri-equipped device covered by the settlement, although the payment could be reduced or increased, depending on the volume of claims. Only 3% to 5% of eligible consumers are expected to file claims, according to estimates in court documents.
Eligible consumers will be limited to seeking compensation on a maximum of five devices.
The settlement represents a sliver of the $705 billion in profits that Apple has pocketed since September 2014. It's also a fraction of the roughly $1.5 billion that the lawyers representing consumers had estimated Apple could been required to pay if the company had been found of violating wiretapping and other privacy laws had the case gone to a trial.
The attorneys who filed the lawsuit may seek up to $29.6 million from the settlement fund to cover their fees and other expenses, according to court documents.
FILE - Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering, speaks about Siri during an announcement of new products at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif., June 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 4, 2025--
The SW Graduate School of Banking at SMU Cox (SWGSB), a nationally renowned source for banking executive education, has announced the SW Graduate School of Banking’s highest honors for 2025. H. Gary Blankenship, chairman, CEO and chief lending officer of Bank of the West, will be honored with the Distinguished Service Award on May 29, 2025, and Ron Butler, chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region, executive vice president and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc., and a graduate of SWGSB Class XXXVII, will be honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award on June 5, 2025.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250404488736/en/
“We’re proud to announce these award recipients who have contributed immense time and talent to the betterment of their communities, their banking institutions, and SWGSB,” said William T. Chittenden, Ph.D., president and CEO of SWGSB. “They represent the best of SWGSB, and we are honored to present them with these awards.”
H. Gary Blankenship
Distinguished Service Award
Born in Lockney, Texas in 1940, Gary Blankenship began his banking career as a National Bank Examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency stationed in Denver, Boulder, and Grand Junction, Colorado. He has been chairman and CEO of Greater Southwest Bancshares, Inc., and Bank of the West since chartering the bank in 1986. Bank of the West has grown to include nine locations in Texas in Flower Mound, Grapevine, Horseshoe Bay, Irving, Lewisville, Marble Falls, Ponder, and Vernon. Blankenship embodies the bank’s motto of, “It’s personal with Bank of the West.” He was previously president and CEO of two other local banks and served several years in the corporate structure of other large Texas banking organizations as an officer and director.
A leader in the industry and his community, he has served on the Texas Department of Banking Commissioner’s Council, as a trustee on the Independent Bankers Association of Texas Insurance Bond Trust, and as a director of National Bancshares of Texas, Inc. He previously served on the board and as vice chairman of Adfitech, a mortgage technology and consulting company. Blankenship is a director of The Independent Bankers Bank (TIB), a $2.9 billion-asset bank that serves as a national community correspondent bankers bank.
Blankenship received the prestigious Chairman’s Award for the Independent Bankers Association of Texas. In 2013, he and his wife, Cynthia, were named recipients of the prestigious D. E. Box Citizens of the Year Award for Grapevine, Texas. He was named one of the top 500 Most Powerful Business Leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth for 2016 and 2017.
Blankenship is an active community servant and is a member of the boards of directors of the Irving Chamber of Commerce, Irving Symphony, and Dallas Summer Musicals. He has a master’s of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Dallas.
Blankenship graduated from West Texas State University, now known as West Texas A&M, with a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting in 1969 and received a master’s of Business Administration from the University of Dallas in 1982. He has completed various other courses in commercial lending, bank accounting, and one year of law school.
Married to Cynthia Blankenship, a banker and cofounder of the Bank of the West, they have three daughters, three granddaughters, and one grandson. Their daughters are also involved in the bank and/or mortgage company.
Ron Butler
Distinguished Alumnus Award
Ron Butler is the chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region in Abilene, Texas, a $14 billion bank with 79 branches located throughout Texas. Butler is also executive vice president and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc. He has been with First Financial for 31 years and previously was CEO of First Financial Bank in Eastland and Stephenville.
Butler has been active in the community serving on numerous boards and is the former board chair of the Abilene Industrial Foundation and Abilene Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Advisory Council of the Excellence in Banking program at the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University. Butler served a six-year term on the Brazos River Authority board of directors, appointed by Governor Rick Perry.
He has served numerous terms as a director of the Texas Bankers Association and is currently serving as its vice chair. He was inducted into the Texas Bankers Hall of Fame in 2023. Butler has a bachelor’s of Business Administration degree from Texas Tech University and a master’s of Business Administration degree from Tarleton State University. He is a graduate of SWGSB Class XXXVII. Butler was named a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in 2024.
Married to Lorilei Butler, and they have two grown children, a son and a daughter who are also graduates of the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University.
To learn more about SWGSB’s nationally renowned program that propels careers, visit www.swgsb.org/summer2025.
ABOUT THE SW GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BANKING AT SMU COX
Since 1957, the SW Graduate School of Banking at SMU Cox (SWGSB) has educated and empowered bankers in all positions, other financial services professionals and affiliates, regulators, bank directors, and aspiring bank directors with knowledge and relationships that strengthen careers, organizations, and communities. SWGSB is a nationally recognized leader in banking and commercial lending education, bank management training, and bank director training programs. Learn more at swgsb.org or call 214.768.2991 for more information.
SW Graduate School of Banking 2025 Distinguished Service Award Honoree H. Gary Blankenship, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer/Chief Lending Officer, Bank of the West and 2025 Distinguished Alumnus Award Honoree Ron Butler, Chairman and CEO of First Financial Bank Abilene Region/Executive Vice President and CAO of First Financial Bankshares, Inc.
