Google to pay $68 million to settle lawsuit over secret user recordings

Google agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing it of secretly recording users' conversations through their smart devices, according to court documents filed Friday in a northern California.

The lawsuit centers on Google Assistant, a tool designed to activate only when the user says specific commands such as "Hey Google" or "Okay Google," or when a button is manually pressed. However, the plaintiffs contend that the company recorded private conversations without authorization, even when no keyword was used.

According to the indictment, the improper recordings allegedly occurred on a wide range of products, including smartphones, home speakers, laptops, tablets, Chromecast devices and branded wireless headphones.

Personalized advertising and eavesdropping without consent

Users also claimed to have received personalized advertising based on private conversations, which reinforced suspicions that their devices were listening in without consent, reported Reuters.

Google denied wrongdoing, but explained that it decided to reach a settlement to avoid the "uncertainty, risk, expense and distraction" associated with a lengthy court proceeding, according to documents in the case.

The settlement still must be approved by federal Judge Beth Labson Freeman of the San Jose-based U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. At the moment, it is unclear how much money individual plaintiffs will receive after legal fees and other costs are deducted.