Apple - Lawsuit
Executive Summary
Nine major tech companies including Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Samsung face a class action lawsuit in Chicago federal court alleging they collected users' voice recordings without consent to train AI models, violating Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The lawsuit, filed by journalists and narrators, claims companies harvested data from various sources without informing users or obtaining required consent, as mandated by BIPA. Under Illinois law, companies could face...
What Happened
Nine major technology companies - Apple, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Samsung, Adobe, Alphabet, and ElevenLabs - are facing a class action lawsuit in Chicago federal court filed by journalists, podcasters, and audiobook narrators. The plaintiffs allege these companies collected and used voice recordings and biometric data from internet sources without permission to train artificial intelligence models, violating Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The lawsuits, filed in 2026 and currently assigned to seven different federal judges, claim the companies failed to inform users before collecting their data, obtain required consent, or provide written policies on data retention and destruction as mandated by BIPA.
Who Is Affected
The named plaintiffs include Chicago journalist Carol Marin, Pulitzer Prize winners Yohance Lacour and Alison Flowers, and journalist Robin Amer, representing a broader class of individuals whose voice recordings may have been scraped from publicly available internet sources. Any person whose biometric voice data was allegedly collected from online platforms without explicit consent could potentially be part of the affected group. The lawsuit specifically involves content creators such as journalists, podcasters, and audiobook narrators whose professional recordings are available online.
Why It Matters
This case represents a significant test of Illinois' BIPA in the context of AI development, as it addresses whether voice data used for training AI models constitutes biometric information requiring user consent. The lawsuit highlights a growing tension between tech companies' data needs for AI training and privacy protections, particularly regarding data scraped from publicly available sources without explicit permission. Under Illinois law, companies face penalties of one thousand dollars per negligent violation and five thousand dollars per intentional or reckless violation, potentially resulting in substantial financial exposure given the scale of data collection involved in AI training.
What You Should Do
If you have published voice recordings online - such as podcasts, audiobook narrations, interviews, or other audio content - monitor developments in this lawsuit to determine if you may be eligible to join the class action. Review the privacy policies and data usage terms of platforms where you upload or share voice content to understand how your recordings may be used or accessed by third parties. Check your account settings on major tech platforms to review any AI training opt-out options that may be available, though such options may be limited or unavailable depending on the platform. Consider limiting the public availability of sensitive voice recordings if you are concerned about unauthorized use for AI training purposes.
Summary generated from verified sources and reviewed before publication. How we summarize.
Sources