Apple, app developers sued for tracking user data
28 Dec 2010
Apple Inc and Apple application or app developers have been sued by an individual over allegations that the company's iPhone and iPad applications send users' personal information to advertising networks without their consent.
The suit filed on behalf in a federal court in San Jose California on 23 December by an individual Jonathan Lalo, alleges that iPhones, iPod Touch and iPads are encoded with devices that permit advertisers to track what applications are download by users and how frequently they use them and for how long.
The lawsuit also alleges that user information like age, gender, and political views are also being sold to advertisers.
"Some apps are also selling additional information to ad networks, including users' location, age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political views," according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims that generating and selling personal information is a violation of the US federal computer and privacy laws.
Lalo who, wants to turn his suit into a class-action-lawsuit is asking all those who downloaded an application from the Apple app store on their iPhone or iPad since 1 December 2008 to join the lawsuit in order to claim compensation.
