Apple Korea privacy payout
Source: Agencies |
July 15, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
APPLE Inc's Korean unit has paid compensation to a user of its popular iPhone after collecting location data without consent, lawyers and court officials said, the first payout by the company over these complaints.
In May, Apple Korea was ordered by the court to pay 1 million won (US$946) in compensation to Kim Hyung-suk, a lawyer, two officials at Changwon District Court said yesterday.
Kim's law firm, Mirae Law, said Apple made the payment last month. Steve Park, a spokesman for Apple Korea declined to comment. Mirae Law said it was now preparing a class action lawsuit against Apple for the unauthorized data collection.
Apple released a software update in May to fix a problem that enabled its mobile devices to collect and store customers' location data. The revelation that Apple's iPhone collected data and stored it for up to a year has prompted renewed scrutiny of the nexus between location and privacy.
US lawmakers have accused the technology industry of exploiting location data for marketing purposes - a potentially multibillion-dollar industry - without getting proper consent from phone users. 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.
Google Inc's Seoul office was raided in May on suspicion its mobile advertising unit AdMob had illegally collected location data without consent, the latest setback to the firm's Korean operations.
Apple and Google executives denied abusing the information. Any class action may pressure Apple in the home market of rival Samsung Electronics.
In May, Apple Korea was ordered by the court to pay 1 million won (US$946) in compensation to Kim Hyung-suk, a lawyer, two officials at Changwon District Court said yesterday.
Kim's law firm, Mirae Law, said Apple made the payment last month. Steve Park, a spokesman for Apple Korea declined to comment. Mirae Law said it was now preparing a class action lawsuit against Apple for the unauthorized data collection.
Apple released a software update in May to fix a problem that enabled its mobile devices to collect and store customers' location data. The revelation that Apple's iPhone collected data and stored it for up to a year has prompted renewed scrutiny of the nexus between location and privacy.
US lawmakers have accused the technology industry of exploiting location data for marketing purposes - a potentially multibillion-dollar industry - without getting proper consent from phone users. 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.
Google Inc's Seoul office was raided in May on suspicion its mobile advertising unit AdMob had illegally collected location data without consent, the latest setback to the firm's Korean operations.
Apple and Google executives denied abusing the information. Any class action may pressure Apple in the home market of rival Samsung Electronics.
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