Google has agreed to pay US$68 million to settle a class action lawsuit over allegations that its Google Assistant inappropriately recorded private conversations without user consent.

The settlement, filed in a California federal court, requires court approval and covers users who purchased Google devices or experienced false accepts, where the assistant misinterpreted speech as activation commands, since May 2016.

The lawsuit accused Google, a unit of Alphabet, of violating privacy by capturing and sharing private conversations to serve targeted ads.

Google denied any wrongdoing but opted to settle to avoid ongoing litigation.

The settlement also allows plaintiffs’ attorneys to seek up to US$22.7 million in legal fees.

🔗 Source: Reuters

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