(NEXSTAR) – Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing it of secretly recording smart device users, according to a court document filed Friday in Northern California.
The case centers around the Google Assistant tool, which is only supposed to record when so-called hot word phrases such as, “Hey Google,” or “Okay Google” are used, or when someone manually presses a button on the device.
The lawsuit alleges that Google inappropriately started recording personal conversations when no hot word was used, unbeknownst to owners of Google smartphones, home speakers, laptops, tablets, Chromecast media players and even wireless earphones.
Users complained they were targeted with ads based on things they had said, even when they hadn’t activated their smart devices using a hot word, according to Reuters.
Google, which didn’t acknowledge any fault, said it decided to settle in order to avoid the “uncertainty, risk, expense, inconvenience and distraction” of a lengthy court battle, according to court documents.
The preliminary filing in San Jose, California federal court will now need approval by U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman.
It wasn’t immediately clear how much individual plaintiffs would receive after attorney fees and other costs.
Apple agreed to settle a similar lawsuit regarding its assistant Siri for $95 million.
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