Recently it became known about a new major lawsuit against Apple. Several residents of Michigan and Rhode Island have reportedly accused the Coopertinos of selling personal data to iTunes users without their consent.
According to the plaintiffs, anyone can purchase data from iTunes users. At the same time, the “buyer” also has the opportunity to buy data taking into account certain parameters. The plaintiffs allege that the list of 1,000 names of unmarried women with higher education, with incomes of more than $80,000 and country music listeners will have to pay only $136. Such rates are listed on the Carney Direct Marketing and SRDS websites.
In addition, the authors of the lawsuit note that Apple does not prevent third-party developers from collecting user data. To do this, iOS features the MPMedia’uery. songs’uery () MediaPlayer framework. The latter provides the ability to collect metadata of songs that are purchased on iTunes or Apple Music and listened to through third-party players.
The Coopertinos have not yet commented on the situation. However, if the court sided with the plaintiffs, it could be a serious blow to the company’s reputation. In the past, Apple has repeatedly stated that user data is not a commodity for them.
Separately, it is worth noting that the plaintiffs do not require Apple exorbitant sums: $5,000 in compensation for all victims from Michigan and $250 for Rhode Islanders. The figures are based on each state’s privacy law.
