Google to Pay Over Claims Voice Assistant Eavesdropped

Google has agreed to pay $68 million to resolve claims that its voice assistant was a snoop. The deal stems from a lawsuit alleging that the assistant improperly recorded private conversations and then shared the info with advertisers, reports CNBC. The assistant is designed to activate when it hears prompts such as "Hey Google." But in the lawsuit, consumers alleged that the assistant began recording under other circumstances, possibly when the device misheard what was said. Such inadvertent activations are known as "false accepts," per a post at TipRanks.

Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, denied any wrongdoing and said it is settling to avoid the costs and risks of continuing the litigation, according to court filings. The settlement filed in federal court in San Jose, California, must still be approved by a judge, notes CBS News. Assuming that happens, the deal would cover people who bought Google devices or were affected by false accepts dating back to May 18, 2016. Apple settled a similar lawsuit over Siri.