Apple Seeks Dismissal of Aiding and Abetting Claim in Class Action

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Apple Inc. is seeking dismissal of a class action claim that it improperly helped developers of the Path social media app secretly access users’ address books.

The company is asking the court to dismiss plaintiffs’ aiding and abetting claim from the Apple, Path class action lawsuit. Apple argues that the plaintiffs can’t prove the company had advance knowledge that Path was committing the alleged privacy breach. Nor can plaintiffs prove Apple substantially assisted Path in committing the act, the company says.

Plaintiffs initiated the Apple, Path class action lawsuit in 2012, alleging that the Path social media app improperly gained access to users’ address books without their consent.

They alleged that Apple aided and abetted that intrusion through the guidance materials it made available to developers through its App Development Program. They claimed Apple’s development materials showed developers how to create apps that would access, use and upload users’ address book information without their consent.

Apple does not dispute allegations that the Path app accessed and transmitted users’ contact information in late 2011 and early 2012. Path itself has corroborated that allegation, Apple says.

Apple claims it did not know what Path was up to until its actions were made public on Feb. 7, 2012. Within 24 hours of that revelation, Apple says it threatened to kick Path out of the Apple App Store unless its developers retooled the app so that it wouldn’t access users’ contact information without their consent.

After that public revelation, Path allegedly acknowledged its actions, deleted all acquired address book information, and redesigned its app to ask for the user’s permission before accessing their address book.

Apple also claims immunity from the aiding and abetting claim under the Communications Decency Act. The company argues that because it did not create or require creation of the software at issue, it can’t be considered an “information content provider” under the CDA and is therefore covered by “absolute CDA immunity” on the aiding and abetting claim.

The Apple, Path class action lawsuit had to be revived in 2014 after U.S. District Judge John Tigar dismissed it and other claims in a consolidated action, saying the plaintiffs failed to allege that they relied on deceptive promises of user privacy.

In January 2016, plaintiffs asked the court to certify the proposed Class, arguing that customer records from the Apple App Store would make Class notice and claims administration relatively expeditious. Apple opposed that certification the next March, arguing that the proposed Class would encompass users whose data was never improperly accessed and who suffered no injury.

Apple also argues that plaintiffs’ legal theory of “intrusion upon seclusion” would require individualized evidence in each plaintiff’s case, making Class certification impractical.

The proposed Class would encompass everyone in the U.S. who downloaded Path versions 2.0 through 2.0.5 from Apple’s App Store between November 2011 to February 2012. A proposed subclass would consist of those Class Members who actually activated the Path app.

Counsel for the Path users are attorneys from Edwards Law, Kerr & Wagstaffe LLP, Law Offices of Carl F. Schwenker, and Phillips Erlewine Given & Carlin LLP.

The Apple, Path Mobile App Privacy Class Action Lawsuit is Opperman, et al. v. Path Inc., et al., Case No. 3:13-cv-00453, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On June 1, 2016, Twitter argued that the class action alleging its “Find Friends” app violates users’ privacy should be dismissed because the users allowed Twitter to access their personal contacts.

UPDATE 2: On July 15, 2016, a California federal judge partially certified a class action lawsuit filed by Path users who claim Apple Inc. let the app access their contacts on their smartphones.

UPDATE 3: On Aug. 11, 2016, the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit accusing a host of app developers and Apple Inc. of improperly harvesting user data without permission argued that Twitter knowingly violated their privacy because it only began asking permission to access users’ address books after public outcry over the practice.

UPDATE 4: On Sept. 9, 2016, Yelp will continue to face a privacy rights class action lawsuit alleging it made unauthorized use of users’ address book data, following a federal judge’s denial of the company’s motion for summary judgment.

UPDATE 5: On April 3, 2017, several app companies, including Twitter, Yelp, and Instagram, asked a federal judge to sign off on a $5.3 million preliminary settlement deal that would resolve a mobile app privacy class action lawsuit.

UPDATE 6: The Twitter, Instagram, Yelp App Privacy Class Action Settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim. 

UPDATE 7: On June 6, 2018, Top Class Actions viewers started receivingchecks in the mailworth as much as $94.55 from a class action settlement over alleged privacy violations by developers of certain apps available on the iOS mobile app. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!