Lawsuit Slams Apple for iPhone Apps Collecting User Data

Apple was hit with a lawsuit on December 23 alleging the company is allowing third-party iPhone and iPad apps to gather personal information from users and transmit it to advertisers without authorization.

The lawsuit was filed in San Jose in the Northern District of California Federal Court on behalf of Jonathan Lalo, according to BusinessWeek. Mr. Lalo and his attorneys are seeking class action status for their lawsuit.

According to the filing, apps are collecting the unique identifier codes in iOS devices and sending that information to advertisers so they can track the apps users are downloading, along with how much time is spent using individual apps. The suit also claims “Some apps are also selling additional information to ad networks, including users’ location, age, gender, income, ethnicity, sexual orientation and political views.”

Apps that are specifically named in the lawsuit include Pandora, Paper Toss, the Weather Channel and Dictionary.com.

Mr. Lalo alleged in his lawsuit that users can’t block apps from collecting their unique UDID identifier code, and that the company claims that the App Store review process blocks apps that collect user information without consent.

Apple has not commented on the lawsuit.