Apple Faces French Legal Action Over Unauthorized Siri Recordings

The Ligue des Droits de l'Homme has filed a complaint citing violations of privacy and data protection laws, based on whistleblower revelations of sensitive user recordings.

The Ligue des Droits de l'Homme (LDH) has filed a complaint with the Paris prosecutor accusing Apple of illegally recording and collecting private conversations through its Siri voice assistant without user consent.
The complaint relies on testimony from whistleblower Thomas Le Bonniec, a former subcontractor employee, who revealed that Siri recordings included sensitive personal moments, such as health discussions, political opinions, and intimate interactions.
Le Bonniec disclosed that many recordings were triggered accidentally, and analysts could sometimes identify users despite Apple's claims that data was anonymized.
Apple has denied the allegations, stating that Siri was designed to protect user privacy and that only a small fraction of recordings were reviewed to improve the service, with no data linked to user identities.
The case coincides with a similar legal dispute in California, where Apple has proposed a $95 million settlement to resolve claims of unauthorized Siri recordings in the United States.