Tech giant Apple is being sued by customers who claim that the company sold their iTunes data to third parties.
In a new class-action lawsuit filed on May 24th, three iTunes customers claim that Apple violated several states’ privacy laws by selling information on iTunes purchases to other companies.
“None of the information pertaining to the music you purchase on your iPhone stays on your iPhone,” the lawsuit alleges, per Billboard. “The data Apple discloses includes the full names and home addresses of its customers, together with the genres and, in some cases, the specific titles of digitally-recorded music that its customers have purchased via the iTunes Store and then stored in their devices.”
The three plaintiffs, Leigh Wheaton, Jill Paul, and Trevor Paul of Rhode Island and Michigan, allege that Apple turns a tidy profit on the sale of user data without the consent of the people whose information they are selling.
Apple claims it only collects “non-personal information,” data without any signifiers that could connect them to an individual user. The lawsuit states that this is false. The suit states that the information can easily be connected to specific customers and then resold to marketers.
The lawsuit is seeking $5 million in damages.
In a new class-action lawsuit filed on May 24th, three iTunes customers claim that Apple violated several states’ privacy laws by selling information on iTunes purchases to other companies.
“None of the information pertaining to the music you purchase on your iPhone stays on your iPhone,” the lawsuit alleges, per Billboard. “The data Apple discloses includes the full names and home addresses of its customers, together with the genres and, in some cases, the specific titles of digitally-recorded music that its customers have purchased via the iTunes Store and then stored in their devices.”
The three plaintiffs, Leigh Wheaton, Jill Paul, and Trevor Paul of Rhode Island and Michigan, allege that Apple turns a tidy profit on the sale of user data without the consent of the people whose information they are selling.
Apple claims it only collects “non-personal information,” data without any signifiers that could connect them to an individual user. The lawsuit states that this is false. The suit states that the information can easily be connected to specific customers and then resold to marketers.
The lawsuit is seeking $5 million in damages.
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