Lawsuit Filed Against Apple Amid Invasion Of Privacy Allegations

By: Justin McHugh

Earlier this month on July 11th, China’s Central Television (CCTV) reported on software in Apple iPhones that allows for users’ locations to be tracked.[1]  The state-run CCTV report warned iPhone users that Apple’s location-tracking software could be a potential security threat.[2]

After the report aired raising security issues concerning the location-tracking functions of the iPhone 4 and newer models, Chen Ma filed a lawsuit for invasion of privacy against Apple.[3]  Ma’s complaint alleged that “She was not asked for and thus has not given her consent, approval and permission nor was she even made aware that her detailed daily whereabouts would be tracked, recorded and transmitted to Apple database[s].”[4]  Ma also referenced the CCTV’s July 11th report in her complaint, stating that it was the report that brought the issue of Apple user location tracking to her attention.[5]  Ma’s complaint further states that “[a]ccording to information and belief, iPhone users are not given any meaningful choice enabling them to turn off the location service without substantially compromising [a] significant number of functionalities of iPhones.”[6]

After the CCTV’s report aired, Apple responded by stating that it does not actually track iPhone users’ locations.[7]  Apple further stated that its iPhone’s tracking capabilities are merely there to provide directions or to assist users in finding their current whereabouts.[8]  However, these comments seem to contradict other statements made by Apple where the company stressed that it will not disclose any information that they have collected on iPhone users’ daily whereabouts to any third party members.[9] 

This is not the first time that a lawsuit has been filed against Apple concerning data privacy issues.  In 2011, four iPhone users claimed that Apple had violated its own privacy policy by allowing for third party app developers to have access to users’ personal information and locations.[10]  The iPhone users stated that they were unaware that third party app developers could collect their personal information and alleged that Apple had specifically designed its software to allow for this to happen despite a privacy policy that claimed it would protect users.[11]  Additionally, the iPhone users alleged that their phones were transmitting their locations despite the fact that they had specifically turned that feature off on their phones.[12]  According to Apple, the reason that location information was still being sent was due to a “software bug” that was fixed when a new software update, iOS version 4.3.3, was released.[13]

Although Judge Lucy Koh recognized that there may have been harm done to the iPhone users, she stated that they had failed to show any evidence that they had relied on anything in the company’s policies before they bought their iPhones.[14]  In Judge Koh’s decision, she stated “[t]o survive a standing challenge at summary judgment, plaintiffs must be able to provide some evidence that they saw one or more of Apple’s alleged misrepresentations, that they actually relied on those misrepresentations, and that they were harmed thereby…In a case founded on the premise that Apple’s misrepresentations caused plaintiffs substantial harm, this evidentiary burden is far from unreasonable, yet plaintiffs have failed to meet it.”[15]  The case was more or less dismissed because the iPhone users had failed to read Apple’s privacy policy before buying their phones.

It remains to be seen whether or not Chen Ma’s lawsuit will be dismissed for similar reasons cited in the aforementioned 2011 lawsuit against Apple.  However, Ma is undeterred by this prior ruling and is currently seeking class certification for her lawsuit.[16]  Ma is seeking class certification for the roughly 100 million iPhone users who Ma says Apple has violated their privacy.[17]  Additionally, Ma is seeking an injunction that would prevent Apple from collecting and storing iPhone users’ private information without first giving them notice, and from sending their data to a third party without their prior permission.[18]  Along with the court ordered injunction, Ma is pursuing compensatory and punitive damages for Apple’s alleged invasion of iPhone users’ privacy.[19]



[1] Michael Kan, Apple face privacy suit following Chinese TV report, PCWorld (July 25, 2014, 12:00 AM), http://www.pcworld.com/article/2458320/apple-faces-privacy-suit-following-chinese-tv-report.html.

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] Juan Rodriquez, Apple Illegally Tracks Customer Location, Class Action Says, Law 360 (July 24, 2014, 1:59 PM), http://www.law360.com/articles/560697/apple-illegally-tracks-customer-location-class-action-says.

[5] Id.

[6] Id.

[7] Rodriquez, supra note 4.

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Brid-Aine Parnell, Apple dodges data privacy sueball: Fanbois didn’t RTFM, says judge, The Register (Nov. 28, 2013), http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/28/apple_data_privacy_lawsuit_thrown_out/.

[11] Id.

[12] Id.

[13] Id.

[14] Parnell, supra note 10.

[15] Id.

[16] Rebekah Kearn, Class Claims Apple iPhones Invade Privacy and Pass Along the Info, Courthouse News Service (July 28, 2014), http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/07/28/69879.htm.

[17] Id.

[18] Id.

[19] Id.