This was bound to happen sooner or later. A Los Angeles county man has filed a lawsuit against Apple, along with several mobile app developers, for allowing apps that transmit private user information to ad networks without user consent.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jonathan Lalo on December 23 in a San Jose, California federal court, Bloomberg reports.
The suit claims that Apple devices like the iPhone and iPad are equipped with unique ID numbers (dubbed UDIDs) that allow advertising networks to track user activity &8212' like what sorts of apps are downloaded and how long they&'re used. Unlike cookies, which are used on computers to track user activity, Apple&'s device IDs are permanent, and users can&'t block their transmission to third parties.
According to the suit, a4‚¬ASome apps are also selling additional information to ad networks, including usersa4‚¬a4„ location, age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political views.a4‚¬
The news follows an investigation by the Wall Street Journal that revealed the extent to which many popular mobile apps share private user data. Named in the suit are popular apps like Pandora, Paper Toss, and the Weather Channel, which were singled out by the WSJ for the data they shared with advertisers.
The suit seeks class-action status for Apple customers who have downloaded iPhone or iPad apps between December 1, 2008 and last week, claiming that transmitting personal information is a violation of federal computer fraud and privacy laws.
Apple claims that it reviews apps and doesn&'t allow them to transmit personal information without permission, but the WSJ&'s report shows multiple instances of approved popular apps that are guilty of sharing data. Apple hasn&'t yet responded to the WSJ&'s investigation, but now that there&'s a lawsuit in the mix, I suspect we&'ll be hearing something from the Cupertino company soon.
Calling all developers: We want your apps for VentureBeata4‚¬a4„s Mobile App Spotlight! If you have a cool mobile app that hasna4‚¬a4„t been featured on VentureBeat yet, sign up!
Previous Story: Verizon iPad 2 to join the Verizon iPhone in 2011
Print Email Twitter Facebook Google Buzz LinkedIn Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Delicious Google More&8230'
Companies: Apple
People: Jonathan Lalo
Companies: Apple
People: Jonathan Lalo
Devindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.
VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters. Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
Comments