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Apple writes a cheque to deal with tracking complaint

by on15 July 2011

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Lawyer gets $883

Apple's South Korean unit has paid a lawyer, who complained about Jobs' Mob collecting location data using his iPhone, $883. According to AP in May, Apple was ordered by the court to pay compensation to Kim Hyung-suk. Kim's law firm, Mirae Law has confirmed that Apple made payment last month.

But it apparently was a test case. Mirae Law said it was now preparing a class action lawsuit against Apple for the unauthorised data collection.

It has set up a website for class action sign-up which had to close because of heavy traffic.Apple released a software update in May after it admitted that it was able to track the movements of iPhone users.

US lawmakers have accused the technology industry of exploiting location data for marketing purposes although Apple has denied that it even looked at the data.

So far two separate US groups of iPhone and iPad users have sued Apple, alleging that certain software applications were passing personal user information to third-party advertisers without consent.

However it is a little tough for Apple, as South Korea is a big market,which is ruled by its rival Samsung.  If Apple has to pay out $883 to everyone who complains that it tracked it, it could be jolly expensive and might even be cheaper to give every Apple fanboy in Korea a new iPhone to make up for it.

Last modified on 15 July 2011
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