A lawsuit has been filed against Apple in the ongoing dust-up over its alleged tracking of the whereabouts of users of iPhones and iPads.
“Irreparable injury has resulted and continues to result from Apple’s unauthorized tracking of millions of Americans,” alleges the lawsuit, filed on Monday in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
“It is unconscionable to allow Apple to continue unlawfully and without proper consent tracking Plaintiffs and proposed Class members,” plaintiffs Vikram Ajjampur and William Devito contend after requesting that the lawsuit be raised to class-action status.
After describing the now well-known allegations of Apple’s iOS 4 capturing and storing details of users locations consolidated.db file (“or something similar”), the lawsuit alleges that Apple collects location information “covertly, surreptitiously and in violations of law”.
To the plaintiffs, Apple’s location-tracking information is both intrusive and dangerous. “Indeed, in many instances it may be information to which employers and spouses are not privy,” the suit reads. “The accessibility of the unencrypted information collected by Apple places users at serious risk of privacy invasions, including stalking.”
Ajjampur and Devito allege that any such tracking is, in their opinion, outside the law, saying that iOS 4–device users “were personally tracked just as if by a tracking device for which a court-ordered warrant would ordinarily be required.” They seek an injunction preventing Apple from collecting the information.
The suit also seeks damages plus attorney fees and costs, and requests a jury trial. Apple did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
Bootnote
According to a Monday report from MacRumors is to believed, Steve Jobs believes Ajjampur and Devito are misinformed.
According to a MacRumors reader, he sent an email to Jobs that read: “Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don’t track me.”
Jobs reply: “Oh yes they do. We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.”
