In its second paragraph, the complaint for this Pennsylvania class action makes its allegations concisely, stating that “Apple unlawfully records and uses consumers’ personal information and activity on its consumer mobile devices and applications (‘apps’), even after consumers explicitly indicate through Apple’s mobile device settings that they do not want their data and information shared.” It claims that Apple, Inc. thereby violates Pennsylvania wiretapping laws.
The class for this action is all individuals who, while using an Apple mobile devices in Pennsylvania, had their information tracked or intercepted by Apple after they turned off “Allow Apps to Request to Track,” “Share iPhone Analytics,” or any other similar setting on an Apple mobile device that purported to stop Apple from collecting mobile app activity.
Apple claims to value the privacy of its users. The complaint quotes its Apple Privacy Policy as saying, “At Apple, we respect your ability to know, access, correct, transfer, restrict the processing of, and delete your personal data.” It also quotes the similar Apple App Store User Privacy and Data Use page: “The App Store is designed to be a safe and trusted place for users to discover apps created by talented developers around the world. Apps on the App Store are held to a high standard for privacy, security, and content because nothing is more important than maintaining users’ trust.”
Recent Apple advertising continues the privacy theme, for example, with a billboard (depicted on page 6 of the complaint) saying, “Privacy. That’s iPhone.”
In fact, the complaint alleges that Apple tells users how to keep their data from being shared, with instructions as to how to turn off “Allow Apps to Request to Track” settings, and also says it will “disable [the sharing of] Device Analytics altogether” if users turn off “Share iPad Analytics” on their iPad or iPhone.
But testing performed by two developers at a software company called Mysk, the complaint says, showed that even when users follow these instructions, “Apple still records, tracks, collects, and monetizes consumers’ analytics data, including browsing history and activity information.”
The testing also showed, the complaint alleges, “that Apple continues to access consumers’ app usage, app browsing communications, and personal information in its proprietary apps, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Books, and Stocks” even when they have turned off these settings.
The story came out in Gizmodo, the complaint alleges, on November 8, 2022, later appearing in other media outlets.
The complaint alleges that collecting and sharing this data even after consumers have followed the company’s own instructions on how to prevent it amounts to “an unlawful interception of a communication” and thus violate Pennsylvania’s wiretapping laws, among other things.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Privacy
Most Recent Case Event
Apple Collects Consumers’ Data Against Their Will Pennsylvania Complaint
January 27, 2023
In its second paragraph, the complaint for this Pennsylvania class action makes its allegations concisely, stating that “Apple unlawfully records and uses consumers’ personal information and activity on its consumer mobile devices and applications (‘apps’), even after consumers explicitly indicate through Apple’s mobile device settings that they do not want their data and information shared.” It claims that Apple, Inc. thereby violates Pennsylvania wiretapping laws.
Apple Collects Consumers’ Data Against Their Will Pennsylvania ComplaintCase Event History
Apple Collects Consumers’ Data Against Their Will Pennsylvania Complaint
January 27, 2023
In its second paragraph, the complaint for this Pennsylvania class action makes its allegations concisely, stating that “Apple unlawfully records and uses consumers’ personal information and activity on its consumer mobile devices and applications (‘apps’), even after consumers explicitly indicate through Apple’s mobile device settings that they do not want their data and information shared.” It claims that Apple, Inc. thereby violates Pennsylvania wiretapping laws.
Apple Collects Consumers’ Data Against Their Will Pennsylvania Complaint