Welcome to the TechMeme right home for Friday, January 3rd, 2025.

I'm Brian McCullough today.

Apple pays a fine because Siri was listening in on what you said.

Strava does a tie-in with Apple Fitness Plus.

Net neutrality is dead again, and it looks like for good this time.

The nuclear winter in the VC space,

CES is coming for us all, and a weekend long read suggestion. Here's what you miss today in the world of

tech. You know that thing, how people have this conspiracy theory that your phone is listening to you, and so when

you say something in real life, then you suddenly see ads for that thing you were discussing on your

phone? Well, this is kind of like that, though not exactly, though I'm sure this will keep those

conspiracy theories going. Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit, claiming that it recorded

private conversations after Siri was unintentionally activated and shared that data with outside parties.

Quoting Reuters, voice assistants typically react when people use hot words such as hey Siri.

Two plaintiffs said that their mentions of Air Jordan sneakers and Olive Garden restaurants triggered ads for those

products. Another said he got ads for a brand name surgical treatment. After discussing it,

he thought privately with his doctor. The class period runs from September 17th, 2014 to

December 31st, 2024. It began when Siri incorporated the Hey Siri feature that allegedly

led to the unauthorized recordings. Class members estimated in the tens of millions may receive up to

$20 per Siri-enabled device, such as iPhones and Apple watches. Apple denied

wrongdoing in agreeing to settle, the Cooperino-California-based company and its lawyers

did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. Lawyers for the plaintiffs

did not immediately respond to similar requests. They may seek up to $28.5 million in fees,

...