iPhone Data Tracking Costs Apple 3M Won Fine in South Korea

The Korean Communications Commission has hit Apple with a 3 million won, or about US$2,855, fine over an iPhone location data tracking issue from earlier this year. According to Reuters, the fine marks the first time any government agency has imposed a penalty on Apple over the incident.

Apple found itself in the middle of a privacy-related controversy earlier this year when reports that the iPhone was logging user’s locations and storing the database on their computers. In some cases, the databases contained up to a year’s worth of location information that tracked iPhone owner’s movements.

iPhone location tracking leads to South Korea fineSouth Korea fines Apple for iPhone location tracking data

The database, according to Apple, only included cell tower locations that were within 100 miles of the user, and aided in location-based services. The fact that several months worth of data happened to be stored instead of only a few days was a software bug that Apple addressed with a software update.

The controversy over mobile device privacy also included Google for the extensive data tracking its Android OS was performing, and ultimately led to Senate hearings.

The fine follows a lawsuit by a South Korean lawyer that led to a 1 million won settlement. That lawyer has since launched a plan to hit Apple with a class action lawsuit.