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Apple sued over iPhone tracking

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

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

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].

Topics: Legal, Apple, Hardware, iPhone, Mobility, Smartphones

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121 comments
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  • Probably sore they missed April Fool's day (nt)

    .
    Fred Fredrickson
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

      @Fred Fredrickson LOL, I guess we could call it a nasty privacy invasion trick
      MrElectrifyer
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

    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.
    athynz
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

      @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!
      slickjim
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

        @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.
        non-biased
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

      @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).
      sharkboyjohn
      Reply Vote

      • PII? You know this is PII

        @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.
        use_what_works_4_U
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

        @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.
        ariesghost
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

        @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.
        athynz
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

        @sharkboyjohn Hell yeah! You put it in a nutshell.
        Imrhien
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

        @ariesghost [i]Is this worst case? Sure. But when we don't plan for the worst case things are so much worse when they happen. [/i]
        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.
        non-biased
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

        @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?
        non-biased
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

      @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.
      Michael Kelly
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

        @Michael Kelly I'd add knowing what exactly this data was intended for.
        athynz
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

      @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.
      Rob.sharp
      Reply Vote

      • Wrong - They have your consent

        @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 <i>ask the question before I buy the device/service</i>.

        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!
        use_what_works_4_U
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

        @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.
        non-biased
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

        @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
        blakjak.au
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

      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!
      andyrules
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Apple sued over iPhone tracking

        @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!
        eargasm
        Reply Vote
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