Apple is being sued over allegations that it lied to consumers about privacy measures to gain an edge over competitors, while actually collecting massive amounts of data to boost advertising revenue.
Despite claims in a campaign touting its privacy features, Apple continues to collect user data and “facilitate interception by third parties,” according to a pair of prospective class-action lawsuits filed against the company on Thursday. One of the lawsuits accuses Apple of implementing the privacy features to “protect its own ad revenue at the expense of other competitors like Facebook.”
In 2021, Apple unveiled privacy changes that require apps to obtain user permission to track their activity on other apps and websites. The company assures users that the apps “do not have access to the System Advertising Identifier (IDFA)” and cannot collect “information that identifies you or your device, such as your email address.” The feature, called App Tracking Transparency, has dramatically impacted the advertising industry. During a quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, Facebook’s parent company Meta said a change in Apple’s iOS operating system cost the company $10 billion in revenue in 2022. Alphabet and Twitter saw similar, but less drastic, declines of revenue due in part to the update.
The complaints, filed in federal court in California and New York, allege breach of implied contract, invasion of privacy and unjust enrichment. The suit, filed in California, also alleges unfair competition.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Apple said: “Identifiable information is never shared with third parties or used to track users across apps and websites. All data used for advertising purposes is separated from personal identifiers and Apple Advertising operates on the basis of de-identified data.”
The suit accuses Apple of misleading users into believing their data was secure by turning off “Allow apps to request tracking” when it was actually collecting and using data, including browsing history, communications and personal identifiers. He pointed to a statement from CEO Tim Cook, who said: “Privacy is a fundamental right, and we build it into all Apple products and services. You should control your data – not the highest bidder,” and an ad that reads, “This is your data. iPhone helps keep it that way.”
“Apple knows that such assurances and promises regarding consumer user privacy and the disabling or termination of such tracking and interception are false and misleading,” reads the complaint, which is embedded below.
The plaintiffs point to a study by security researchers at software company Mysk that claims Apple’s privacy settings did not stop the company from collecting data. The App Store, for example, continued to collect information about real-time activity from app users in addition to ID numbers, what kind of device was used, the device’s screen resolution, the device’s keyboard language, and how the user was connected to the Internet. . It also concluded, among other things, that the Stocks app tracks users’ watchlists of stocks, names of stocks viewed and searched for, and news articles users view. The researchers said Apple collects similar data for Apple Music, Apple TV and Books, among other apps.
“Users of Apple mobile devices actually continued to be spied on all the time without their consent,” the suit says. “And Apple knew it.”