Apple Sued for Wiping iPhone Data at Genius Bar

Apple has a new lawsuit on its hands, but this time it isn't for patent infringement. Instead, it's over lost data when a customer failed to backup their iPhone before taking it to the Genius Bar for tech support.

London man sues Apple over lost iPhone dataDeric White filed the lawsuit after taking his iPhone to the London Regent Street Apple Store for tech support. He said he received text messages saying there was a problem with his iPhone 5, so he turned to the Genius Bar staff for help.

Apple's staff fixed the problem by restoring his iPhone, but since Mr. White hadn't backed up his data, his contacts and honeymoon photos were all lost. He claims the Genius Bar staff didn't confirm he had a backup before wiping his phone.

Apple's standard routine is to ask customers if they have a backup before performing any action that could wipe their data. Mr. White claims in this case that didn't happen.

Mr. White is suing Apple for £5,000 (about US$7,522) so he can take his wife on a second honeymoon and snap photos to replace the shots he lost.

Apple's response to Mr. White's claim is that "The claimant has not demonstrated how suffered any loss," according to The Sun.

While losing his contacts and honeymoon photos is sad, Apple isn't responsible for backing up our data. That's our own responsibility, and one that Mr. White failed to meet.

Mr. White is facing off against Apple on Monday in a London court. Regardless of the outcome, hopefully he now understands why he needs to backup his iPhone regularly.