Joaquin Serrano of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, recently led a class action lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of violating multiple U.S. state statutes regarding wiretapping, privacy and consumer fraud.
According to official court documents, Serrano’s attorneys argued, “This case involves a blatant violation of consumer privacy by Apple. Apple illegally recorded and used consumers’ personal information and activities on their consumer mobile devices and applications (Apps) even after consumers had explicitly set up their Apple mobile devices to indicate that they did not want their data and information to be shared. This activity amounts to a vast wealth of data that Apple collects and uses for its financial benefit.”
Consumers are concerned about keeping their data private and are demanding more control over their data. Consumers are also increasingly concerned that their private information is being used without their knowledge or permission.
With the growing concern about privacy, Apple has been trying to position itself as a leader, touting how its mobile devices allow users to control the information they share.
In its official privacy policy, Apple states.
"At Apple, we respect your ability to understand, access, correct, transfer, limit the processing of, and delete your personal data."
Apple’s “User Privacy and Data Use” page in the App Store similarly states.
"The App Store is designed to be a safe and trustworthy place for users to discover apps created by talented developers from around the world. apps on the App Store are held to high standards of privacy, security and content because nothing is more important than maintaining the trust of users."
Apple even provides specific instructions to users explaining how to control the data Apple collects. Apple tells users that they can turn off the “Allow apps to request tracking” setting if they wish.
In addition, Apple made a direct commitment in the settings of its mobile devices. Apple says it will “completely disable [shared] device analytics” if consumers toggle “shared iPhone analytics” on or off on their iPhone, or if they make similar settings on other Apple mobile devices such as the iPad.
But Apple does not, in fact, honor users’ requests to limit data sharing.
A recent test conducted by two independent app developers at software company Mysk revealed that Apple records, tracks, collects and monetizes consumer analytics data, including browsing history and activity information, even when consumers voluntarily change their “privacy settings” and accept Apple’s instructions to protect their privacy.
These experts and their testing further demonstrate that even when consumers affirmatively turn off “Allow app request tracking” and/or “Share [device] analytics” on their privacy controls, Apple still captures consumers’ app usage, app browsing communications, and personal information in the usage of its proprietary apps, app browsing communications and personal information in its proprietary applications, including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Books and Stocks.
Gizmodo reported on this issue on November 8, 2022. Since Gizmodo’s report, the issue has been covered by multiple news outlets, including The Verge, Engadget, and Fox News, and as of the date of this filing, Apple has not responded to or publicly rebutted these reports.
Apple’s practices have deceived consumers, and its collection of data from users who specifically follow Apple’s instructions to prevent the sharing of their data constitutes an unlawful interception of communications and specifically violates Pennsylvania’s wiretapping laws.
