Apple has recently been sued for failing to meet its user privacy obligations. Plaintiff Julie Cima filed the case in Northern California District Court, claiming that Apple is gathering data from iPhone users even though the devices are set to not share information.
According to the lawsuit, Apple collects and stores personal information and activity from users on its consumer mobile devices and applications, even if consumers indicate in their Apple mobile device settings that their data and information should not be shared. Still, Apple collects and uses vast amounts of data for financial advantage.
The lawsuit cites a report published last November by the Mysk development team, which claims that Apple gathers analytics data despite customers limiting this option in iPhone settings. This study appears to have motivated the filing of the case.
The company has yet to respond to the case. It can, however, claim that it does not breach the privacy policy because receiving customer data does not constitute transferring information to a third party. Regardless, it is apparent that the corporation is responsible for protecting user data and being transparent about its collection methods.