Apple has beaten claims that it violated California privacy by collecting user data from its in-house apps, such as the App Store or Apple Music, despite users thinking that they’d opted out of such collecting, reports Bloomberg Law.
Judge Edward J. Davila granted the tech giant’s motion to dismiss parts of a privacy class action that alleged violations of California’s Invasion of Privacy Act, the California Constitution, the state’s unfair competition law, breach of implied contract, and the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act.
Davila, who sits on the US District Court for the Northern District of California, said he would give the plaintiffs one final opportunity to amend and refile their complaint “out of an abundance of caution,” according to Bloomberg Law.
“It is doubtful whether Plaintiffs can sufficiently plead their dismissed claims given the deficiencies addressed in this Order,” he said.
The original lawsuit was filed in November 2022. It claims that Apple had assured users that they are in control of what information they share when they use mobile apps, but that those assurances are “utterly false.”
“Privacy is one of the main issues that Apple uses to set its products apart from competitors,” the lawsuit said. “But Apple’s privacy guarantees are completely illusory.”
Apple’s iPhones and other devices contain settings that purport to disable all tracking and sharing of app information, but the tech giant continues to collect, track, and monetize their data even after consumers have chosen to disable sharing, per the lawsuit. The lawsuit noted that security company Mysk found that Apple’s analytics controls above and other privacy settings had no obvious effect on Apple’s data collection—the tracking remained the same whether iPhone Analytics was switched on or off.
From the lawsuit: Apple’s practices infringe upon consumers’ privacy; intentionally deceive consumers; give Apple and its employees power to learn intimate details about individuals’ lives, interests, and app usage; and make Apple a potential target for ‘one-stop shopping’ by any government, private, or criminal actor who wants to undermine individuals’ privacy, security, or freedom. Through its pervasive and unlawful data tracking and collection business, Apple knows even the most intimate and potentially embarrassing aspects of the user’s app usage—regardless of whether the user accepts Apple’s illusory offer to keep such activities private.
The plaintiffs were seeking “Class certification, injunctive relief, compensatory damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, restitution, attorney’s fees and costs.”
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