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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
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Apple sued over iPhone tracking

By | April 26, 2011, 4:11am PDT

Summary: Well, that didn’t take long! Apple has been hit with a lawsuit over the iPhone tracking scandal.

Well, that didn’t take long! Apple has been hit with a lawsuit over the iPhone tracking scandal.

The plaintiffs (Vikram Ajjampur and William Devito) claim that ‘it is unconscionable to allow Apple to continue unlawfully and without proper consent tracking Plaintiffs and proposed Class members’ and ‘irreparable injury has resulted and continues to result from Apple’s unauthorized tracking of millions of Americans.’

The suit goes on to say that ‘in many instances it may be information to which employers and spouses are not privy’ and that the ‘accessibility of the unencrypted information collected by Apple places users at serious risk of privacy invasions, including stalking.’ It goes on to say that iPhone and iPad users are ‘personally tracked just as if by a tracking device for which a court-ordered warrant would ordinarily be required.’

Download the complaint here [PDF].

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Topics

Apple iPhone, Lawsuit, Apple Inc., Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Smart Phones, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
FAULKNE 13th Oct
Good day to confirm this comment I would appreciate T h e b e s t o f Z D N e t d e l i v e r e d your website very nice to everyone Yes, Oracle is the only one with shared-disk architecture, but that is there advantage. It means you can add or remove nodes and the database lives on. In a shared nothing architecture, if you lose a node, you lose the system. I'm sure Oracle appreciates EMC highlighting their advantage.I also desire to signal in your RSS feeds. Thank you as soon as once again and maintain up the great operate Awesome post! Thank you very much || thanks for nice content this is really benefit to me.
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Probably sore they missed April Fool's day (nt)
Fred Fredrickson 26th Apr 2011
.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
MrElectrifyer 26th Apr 2011
@Fred Fredrickson LOL, I guess we could call it a nasty privacy invasion trick
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Pete "athynz" Athens 26th Apr 2011
It didn't take long for the opportunists to come out at the smell of potential money... Seriously this is less than a week old and there is already a lawsuit. And this while it is unclear as to what this data really is and what it is being used for. I downloaded the program to generate the Google earth file so I could see for myself how accurate this tracking is and it's not very accurate and has NOT in fact stored every single place I've been since I bought my iPhone 4.

I do have questions and concerns about this issue but this lawsuit seems more of a way for those two to get some quick easy money.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Peter Perry 26th Apr 2011
@athynz Yeah well, Apple had a chance to speak up and they remained silent! No joke, this is their Rootkit that will tarnish their trusted reputation!
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
non-biased 27th Apr 2011
@Peter Perry So the issue became the media darling less that a week earlier and the fact that Apple hadn't spoken up yet is your justification for a frivolous lawsuit? I bet you are an ambulance chaser dream come true.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
sharkboyjohn 26th Apr 2011
@athynz
Any company that intentionally or unintentionally exposes personal identifiable information or collects such information without users knowledge or permission should be held accountable.
This should be a class action suite that sends a message to the industry (not just Apple).
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PII? You know this is PII
use_what_works_4_U 26th Apr 2011
@sharkboyjohn
PII (personally identifiable information) is a big deal. All Apple needs to do is show the court that the information is properly anonymized and the worry goes out the door. Apple has always said such information might be collected, they have always indicated that any data sent to Apple by the device is anonymized, and the "core location" functionality of iOS is documented functionality.

I expect that my EVO shift does the same thing, but I don't worry about it. If I don't want my phone recording its location (not mine, its) then I would turn it off.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
ariesghost 26th Apr 2011
@macadam
The problem with that thought is that Apple has already let the information slip into peoples hands. Spouses primarily, however that's the tip of the iceberg.

Imagine all those intelligence agents out there in the world today. All the diplomats. All the world leaders. Now imagine theres a system thats in place to tell you exactly where they are. Now imagine that it's openly available to anyone with a little bit of knowledge and a bit of social engineering.

Is this worst case? Sure. But when we don't plan for the worst case things are so much worse when they happen.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Pete "athynz" Athens 26th Apr 2011
@sharkboyjohn If I'm not mistaken the data records the location of the cell towers that the iPhone accessed - not too terribly much personal identifiable info from that unless you happen to be the ONLY one using those towers.

I have NOT said that Apple - or any company (GOOGLE) that does this - should not be held accountable. I want a reasonable explanation before going off on a lawsuit.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Imrhien 27th Apr 2011
@sharkboyjohn Hell yeah! You put it in a nutshell.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
non-biased 27th Apr 2011
@ariesghost Is this worst case? Sure. But when we don't plan for the worst case things are so much worse when they happen.
Somebody could hack every electronic device in the world and take over. Is this likely, of course not. Is it a worst case scenario, sure it is. Based on your statement in planning for the worst case we should get rid of everything electronic and go back to the 1800s way of life.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
non-biased 27th Apr 2011
@sharkboyjohn And what did they expose? You would have to have access to either the phone or the system it is backed up on to access this information. If you have access to either you have access to far more valuable info than inaccurate triangulated location data from the past. Is somebody going to see where I was at this exact time 6 months ago so they can go back in their time machine and rob me?
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Michael Kelly 26th Apr 2011
@athynz

I am not a part of the class action, but if I were I'd gladly drop it in exchange for Apple fixing the problem, either by dropping the capability altogether or by encrypting it so no program can use the data without the user's permission.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Pete "athynz" Athens 26th Apr 2011
@Michael Kelly I'd add knowing what exactly this data was intended for.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Rob.sharp@... 26th Apr 2011
@athynz

Accurate or not this is being done without your consent! Who put Apple and Google above the law? When it comes to companies like this...Greed is what comes to mind and "TRUST" isn?t even a blip on the radar. I trust Google and Apple about as much as I'd trust a drug addict with my kid. An addict would sell my kid to feed the addiction much like these companies will sell your privacy to boost stock value. TRUST is something Google and Apple don't understand. You can't build an APP for that! At what point did we lose sight of our freedom? To sacrifice one?s freedom for technology is absurd. You can keep your I-phone and Android device; I?ll take freedom and privacy any day of the week! If you slapped money on the counter for one of these devices you should feel violated! Anything less is simply Un-American.
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Wrong - They have your consent
use_what_works_4_U 26th Apr 2011
@rob.sharp@...
It's right there in the terms and conditions for the product. Those terms are viewable from Apple's store at any time. If you don't research the services you sign up for, then you have yourself to blame.

I am really sick of this "let's find a big corporation to hold accountable" attitude that is prevailing in modern day USA. The information is out there, very publicly, and if you make a decision without doing the research then it is YOUR fault! I know that ANY device or service I acquire which has location based benefits to me is reasonably going to need to know my location. If I am concerned about how that data is to be used, then I ask the question before I buy the device/service.

It's called personal accountability and it seems like it's being replaced with personal profitability in the U.S. THAT is why we are a sad, lawsuit ridden society, and no other reason!

What do you call a class-action lawyer when he's skydiving?
SKEET!
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
non-biased 27th Apr 2011
@rob.sharp@... But I have not sacrificed my freedom to have my iPhone. This data reside on my phone and the PC that I sync it with. I have possession and control of both. If it were being broadcast somewhere then I have an issue with it. How much of an issue depends on where it's going, what info it contains and what it's used for.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
blakjak.au 27th Apr 2011
@rob.sharp@... As a very important point of interest. Android CLEARY states that it does this if you enable the optional network location feature. Google are not complicit in this particular issue in any way because they do have transparency and the feature is opt-in
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
andyrules 26th Apr 2011
I don't see how this is news to everone, the internet and phones have been tracking you for a very long time, what are cookies in a web browser? unencrypted data of when and where you were online, everytime you go to a website you get tracked, it places a cookie on your machine and the website logs your info. your phone does the same thing, except it also uses location data along with cookies, how else does the weather apps and location based ads work, and how does google.com or Maps know your location, by collecting data on you. I don't know about IOS but Android lets you clear location and web browser cache, it is all in the fine print which nobody seems to read then they get upset when something like this happens. and yeah you know that neat feature in the camera app called geolocation? it stores your lat/Long, date, and time of day in the metadata part of the picture. you have been tracked since the first day you used the net, so GET OVER IT!
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
windozefreak 26th Apr 2011
@andyrules
Maybe someone can come up with an app for that! An app that point out those little gotchas would be a monetary hit! Sarcasticaly bent, of course!
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
DevGuy_z 26th Apr 2011
@andyrules You are making a big assumption. It is ONE thing for your data to be collected and displayed locally. It is entirely a different thing when that data is sent somewhere else. Unless you sign up for it. I cannot find out where you are. With an iPhone apparently I can. An app running locally can determine your location via IP address. It knows your IP address and the domain. It is entirely different for someone else to get that information. Most of the apps you have cited don't know my location unless I am logged in. I have been to may weather sites that think I am in New York instead of on the West coast.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
non-biased 27th Apr 2011
@DevGuy_z You are correct, it is an entirely different thing when the data is sent somewhere which in this case (at least with iOS) it is not. Considering that what was your point?
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
man_strosity 26th Apr 2011
@athynz

Well you knoble knight, chivalry is not dead. Thank you for coming to the aid and defense of the giant opportunists who are making boatloads of actual money, at the expense of our rights and freedoms.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
non-biased 27th Apr 2011
@man_strosity Care to explain?
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
DevGuy_z 26th Apr 2011
@athynz Any location data regardless of what it is used for should not be transmitted without the express consent of the user. That's the bottom line. And since the data is unencrypted it allows anyone to track your whereabouts. I imagine the accuracy varies depending on the number of cell towers. But if you were in a witness protection program it could get the wrong people close enough. The only way a cell tower can locate is if the cell phone is transmitting which it does not do all the time.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
non-biased 27th Apr 2011
@DevGuy_z Then I guess it's a good thing that it isn't transmitted anywhere, at least not in the case of iOS devices. Since you keep mentioning how transmitting the data is the issue you mentioning I guess you are saying there is not issue with what iOS does?
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
andyrules 26th Apr 2011
@DevGuy_z I dont know where you got your info from but the data stored on the iphone only shows what cell towers you were you were connected to, not your ip address, and the only way an app can access it is if you are jailbroken.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
peter010908 26th Apr 2011
@athynz

Sounds like you either work for apple or they have paid you to say this...

I think it's good that they are getting sued, it should serve as a deterant for other companies trying to do the same thing.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
ITSamurai 26th Apr 2011
@athynz I wonder what you would say if the gov't was accused of hijacking your phone and tracking your movement.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
non-biased 27th Apr 2011
@ITSamurai Probably the exact same thing he would say if Apple did it. Since Apple is doing no such thing what is the point of you asking this question?
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It's getting windy at the top of the mountain!
Userama 26th Apr 2011
If somebody discovered that, say, Acer was logging location data (and they probably are!), do you think anybody would give a flipping toot? Not bloody likely!
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Peter Perry 26th Apr 2011
@Userama Yes they would, Acer owners! Of course if they weren't hauling their laptop everywhere then no but this isn't a laptop, it is a phone and a tablet!
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Using your logic.....
Userama 26th Apr 2011
@Peter Perry
only Apple owners would care if Apple were logging locations, but there sure are a lot of "I would never, ever touch an Apple product" folks who are jumping all over this one!
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Peter Perry 26th Apr 2011
@Userama Hmm, funny... There's an iPad 2 sitting right next to me so I wonder who you're talking to.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
CowLauncher 26th Apr 2011
@Peter Perry In could have sworn you said you owned an Xoom. Curious...
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Pete "athynz" Athens 26th Apr 2011
@Peter Perry Then why aren't you Fandroids calling out Google? Dude they run the biggest spyware system on the planet and you are giving them a free pass... why is that?
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We all know the information is out there.
johnmckay Updated - 26th Apr 2011
@Userama
Its long been known that the data is there, and is logged as part of your service. The police etc could always get access to it to prove your phone was in certain locations. Sounds like this informtion has left the secure domain though.... and thats the problem. Are you OK with your missus knowing every route you take in a year? Regardless... What right has anyone to see that data? Would you expect to look at someone elses; like your wifes? I hope not.

ps It doesn't need to be very accurate... As you roam your phone connects to different masts depending on signal. Each and every instance of that connection is logged against your phone. Thats a lot of information!
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
MrElectrifyer Updated - 26th Apr 2011
@GetReal-mac.com The police etc could always get access to it to prove your phone was in certain locations.

Exactly as I thought when my previous iPhone got stolen (that's how attractive it was, lol; sucks^2 ). But, they just told me they have no way of tracking it. Sounds suspicious heh, could the government be behind all this? Might be another way to control the citizens
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RE: Are you OK with your missus knowing every route you take in a year?
fatman65535 26th Apr 2011
@GetReal-mac.com

You have just given one good reason why one should disable any GPS unit in a car!!!! In a divorce case, that information in the hands of a vindictive (soon to be) ex-spouse's lawyer would be a gold mine. If you want to know where I go in my day to day travels, then you are free to follow me; but I will be dammed if I will make it easier for you.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
non-biased 27th Apr 2011
@GetReal-mac.com Do I care if the Mrs looks at where I have been? No, I have nothing to hide. I have the ability to look at where she has been but it's never crossed my mind so no, don't expect to look at it. Of course I also control the info since it only reside on my devices so can protect it as I see fit.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
iluvmsft 26th Apr 2011
If this tracking issue was made by Microsoft, Apple fanboys and media will be all over with it, attacking Microsoft.

Apple fanboys are understandably quite about this happy
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M$ is next!
Linux Geek 26th Apr 2011
@iluvmsft
for massive privacy infringements on its users.
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MS makes a Linux OS?
Will Farrell 26th Apr 2011
@Linux Geek
can't see how they could be next unless they have their own version of Linux.
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Wrong Evil Empire
dazzlingd 26th Apr 2011
@Linux Geek
I think you are confusing MS with that big Linux advocate, Google.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Peter Perry 26th Apr 2011
@iluvmsft No they're not, they're in denial! One guy even tried to claim he couldn't find anything on his iPhone 4 while another proclaimed that all the proof he needed!

Cases like this would not move forward without evidence... Steve should be happy though because he has a new customer buying a computer (how else are they going to read the database containing the information).
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
tbuccelli 26th Apr 2011
@Peter Perry
Actually, people don't need to buy a Mac to see information, there is a windows version as well.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
Pete "athynz" Athens 26th Apr 2011
@Peter Perry So this case is moving forward because a lawsuit has been filed? Isn't that the first step? Let me know when this case reaches a courtroom or a settlement is made THEN it will considered as "moving forward".

This, like the badly labeled "antennagate", will be found to have been entirely overblown...
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
non-biased 27th Apr 2011
@Peter Perry I bet this moves forward about as well as all the Antennagate class actions all the haters were calling for last year.
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
MG537 26th Apr 2011
@iluvmsft
Is that you Non Zealot?
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The odd part about all of this is that
Will Farrell 26th Apr 2011
@iluvmsft
if alot of the iPhone users discovered there was someone in a car following them around all day, no matter where they went or when they went, they would be a bit concerned, maybe even a little nervous because they have no idea why the person in the car was following them.

But let Apple track them and store there where abouts in an unencrypted file and it's no big deal, follow away!
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RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking
FAULKNE 13th Oct
Good day to confirm this comment I would appreciate T h e b e s t o f Z D N e t d e l i v e r e d your website very nice to everyone Yes, Oracle is the only one with shared-disk architecture, but that is there advantage. It means you can add or remove nodes and the database lives on. In a shared nothing architecture, if you lose a node, you lose the system. I'm sure Oracle appreciates EMC highlighting their advantage.I also desire to signal in your RSS feeds. Thank you as soon as once again and maintain up the great operate Awesome post! Thank you very much || thanks for nice content this is really benefit to me.

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