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iPhone Data Privacy Class Action Dismissed ... with Leave to Appeal
On September 20, 2011, Justice Koh of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, dismissed with leave to appeal, a purported nationwide class action suit (referred to as In Re iPhone Application Litigation) against Apple, Inc. and some of its mobile apps developers and partners (referred to as the Mobile Industry Defendants) concerning allegedly improper use of iPhone and iPad user geolocation and other personal information.
While the decision is given in the issue of standing, the decision is also instructive on other elements of the defendants’ and plaintiffs’ pleadings; and touches on the issues of injury in fact, causation, whether Apple’s privacy agreements may be contracts of adhesion or otherwise inapplicable, insufficiency of facts alleged against individual defendants, necessary parties, negligence, good faith and fair dealing, and certain statutory rights under California and US federal consumer protection and computer fraud statutes, trespass to chattels and unjust enrichment.
If only for the breadth of material covered, the case is a worthwhile read; and it will be interesting to see if the plaintiffs are able to properly plead their cases given the current resistance of the US courts to privacy class actions.
For additional information, please visit:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/65952724/In-re-Apple-iPhone-Application-Litigation-Dismissal
For commentary on the decision, visit:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/09/judge-shreds-dismisses-iphone-privacy-class-action.ars