Apple class action claims company illegally records consumers’ app activity

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Apple apps class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Elliot Libman filed a class action lawsuit against Apple Inc. 
• Why: Libman claims Apple illegally records the confidential activity of its mobile app users so it can profit from the data. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court. 

Apple illegally records the confidential activity of consumers on its mobile applications and uses the data it collects for its own profit, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Elliot Libman claims Apple misleads consumers by falsely assuring them that they are in the control of what information they choose to share. 

Libman argues consumers are thus “left with the reasonable impression” that Apple will stop collecting and recording their activity in the event they decide to disable tracking and share settings.

Apple’s “assurances and promises” regarding privacy, however, are “utterly false,” the Apple class action alleges. 

“Apple records, tracks, collects and monetizes analytics data—including browsing history and activity information—regardless of what safeguards or ‘privacy settings’ consumers undertake to protect their privacy,” the Apple class action states. 

Apple class action claims company infringes on consumers’ privacy, intentionally deceiving them

Apple’s alleged actions “infringe upon consumers’ privacy” and intentionally deceive them, while giving the company and its employees “power to learn intimate details about individuals’ lives, interests, and app usage,” the Apple apps class action alleges. 

Libman argues Apple also makes itself a potential target for “any government, private or criminal actor who wants to undermine individuals’ privacy, security or freedom.” 

“Apple knows even the most intimate and potentially embarrassing aspects of the user’s app usage—regardless of whether the user accepts Apple’s illusory offer to keep such activities private,” the Apple class action states. 

Libman claims Apple is guilty of unjust enrichment and in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act. He demands a jury trial and requests declaratory and injunctive relief along with an award of compensatory, statutory and punitive damages for himself and all class members. 

Libman wants to represent a nationwide class of consumers who had their app activity tracked despite having turned off tracking and share settings on their iPhone or iPad. 

In 2012, a consumer filed a similar class action lawsuit accusing Apple of secretly recording and storing the activity of its iPhone and iPad users. A judge dismissed the class action lawsuit and multidistrict litigation on Nov. 25, 2013, ruling that plaintiffs could not prove they relied on Apple’s alleged misrepresentations or were harmed by them.

Have you had your mobile app activity unlawfully tracked? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by L. Timothy Fisher, Philip L. Fraietta, Matthew A. Girardi and Julian C. Diamond of Bursor & Fisher P.A.

The Apple apps class action lawsuit is Libman v. Apple, Inc., Case No. 5:22-cv-07069, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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