Apple is being sued in a California court for illegal tracking of users – through their iPhones and iPads even if the device tracking was turned off.
The petitioner cited research as the base for his complaint, where it pointed out that Apple is collecting users’ device analytics of the App Store through their iPhones, despite a dedicated setting to turn this off was on. As it violates user privacy, the plaintiff is suing the company now.
Tracking Despite Asking Not to
Apple often boasts of its stringent privacy and security policies to safeguard users, practiced across its products and services in all countries. The company has introduced a number of reforms to attain user trust and now stands as the best company that guards our data.
But it has now been accused of tracking users despite saying not to! Research from Mysk discovered that Apple is collecting device analytics of its users in the App Store – like what they tap on, which apps they search for, which ads they see, and how long they have looked at them.
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The recent changes that Apple has made to App Store ads should raise many #privacy concerns. It seems that the #AppStore app on iOS 14.6 sends every tap you make in the app to Apple.????This data is sent in one request: (data usage & personalized ads are off)#CyberSecurity pic.twitter.com/1pYqdagi4e— Mysk ???????????????? (@mysk_co) November 3, 2022
Further, details like the device, including the ID numbers, phone model, screen resolution, your keyboard languages, and how you’re connected to the internet! All these are termed as your digital fingerprints, which are really sensitive in this space.
And Apple collects them for various purposes – despite turning off a tracking feature it has set in iPhones and iPads. Harvesting information about such is a crime, especially when you said not to. Thus, a California man is now suing Apple under his privacy violation laws, saying that
“Defendant [Apple] violates state law in connection with its illegal recording of consumers’ confidential activity on its consumer mobile applications (“apps”)—a huge and growing treasure trove of data that Apple amasses and uses for its own profit.”
