Shares in U.S. tech giant Apple (AAPL) were lower today after it was accused of illegally collecting voice data for its voice assistant Siri.
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French prosecutors said they were investigating Siri after receiving a complaint accusing the company of illicit data collection.
Cyber Specialists
The probe, which was first reported by the news website Politico, has been entrusted to a police force specialized in cybercrime, the prosecutors’ office in Paris said.
This follows a complaint filed in France earlier in 2025 by a human rights organization – the Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH). It accused Apple of collecting, recording and analyzing Siri conversations without users’ consent.
Apple can record and retain audio interactions through Siri to help improve its services, a feature the company says is opt-in. Some of that data can be retained for up to two years and reviewed by “graders,” or subcontractors, according to Apple.
Cancer Patients
LDH cited testimony from Thomas Le Bonniec, a former Apple subcontractor in Cork, who alleged that his job with Apple required him to listen to user recordings by Siri. This included one by a purported pedophile and conversations from cancer patients.
“The opening of a criminal investigation sends a clear message: fundamental rights matter, and there are organisations and people determined to uphold them,” Le Bonniec said.
Apple said that it had tightened Siri privacy controls in 2019 and again this year. It pointed to a January post on its website in which it said conversations with Siri were never shared with marketers or sold to advertisers.
This could be a severe reputational blow for Apple, which is why legal and regulatory issues are a key risk to both it and its investors – see above.
France is increasingly cracking down on U.S. tech firms, much to the wrath of President Trump.
Apple was hit with a €150 million ($162 million) fine in France earlier this year over how it implemented its app tracking transparency feature.
Is AAPL a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, AAPL has a Moderate Buy consensus based on 20 Buy, 13 Hold and 3 Sell ratings. Its highest price target is $310. AAPL stock’s consensus price is $255.91, implying a 0.51% downside.
