Explainer · case C02 · 60 seconds
01 / 08 · Setup
HEY SIRI.
and only the iPhone listens?
02 / 08 · Tension
ONLY ? THOUSANDS OF CONTRACTORS.
in Cork, Dublin, Chennai
03 / 08 · Reveal
THOMAS LE BONNIEC
former Globe Technical Services contractor · July 2019
04 / 08 · Mechanism
false trigger → recording → contractor in another country
iPhone
"false trigger" e.g. zipper
Contractor
random samples · "grading"
they heard: sex, drug deals, medical talks, therapy
05 / 08 · Scale
0.2% OF ACTIVATIONS. BILLIONS OF SAMPLES.
billions
audio samples
0.2%
of all activations
$95M
USD settlement
06 / 08 · Disclosure
JULY 2019
Alex Hern
The Guardian
Thomas Le Bonniec
whistleblower · Spain
CNIL · France
formal complaint 2020
a week later — Apple suspends program
07 / 08 · Settlement
$95,000,000
Lopez v. Apple (Dec 2024, approved 2025)
First-ever settlement for voice recordings without consent. Apple changes policy: always opt-in, on-device processing where possible.
08 / 08
SIRI GRADING
Your assistant was listening. And you didn't know that humans were listening to it.
Case C02 in Big Tech Files.