- Apple is in hot water over accusations it has been giving away iTunes purchase information to third-parties
- The plaintiffs are seeking more than US$5-million in damages
- The complaint revolves around Apple selling, renting and transmitting private information
Apple recently said it was going to be more transparent on the impact its software updates has to your phone’s speed and battery. However, a class-action federal lawsuit against the company seems to say otherwise.
The class-action suit claims the company does not keep private information very private at all. It says that customers’ information on iTunes purchases is being sold by Apple to third parties.
It further suggests that Apple sells, rents and transmits information with third parties about the music that each customer buys from iTunes. Apple does this as a way to supplement its revenues according to the lawsuit.
Leigh Wheaton, Jill Paul and Trevor Paul, three iTunes users from Rhode Island and Michigan, filed the lawsuit claiming that despite the fact that Apple engaged in an ad campaign “touting its supposedly pro-consumer positions on issues of data privacy”, other ad campaigns have further angered the alleged victims, such as a billboard in Vegas saying: “What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone.”
Apple apparently was also mining and selling person information to third parties. The parties complain that the collection of the data was done in violation of their own individual states’ privacy laws.
“The data Apple discloses includes the full names and home addresses of its customers, together with the genres and, in some cases, the specific titles of digitally-recorded music that its customers have purchased via the iTunes Store and then stored in their devices,” according to the lawsuit.
You can read the full report on the lawsuit here.
Apple has refused to make a statement.
