Apple Faces Lawsuit for iOS Tracking File Issues

28 Apr 2011 | News | Ria Absin-Viente on Google+

Two customers accused Apple for computer fraudulence and invasion of privacy after the matters of iOS 4 location tracking file in iPhone surfaced

William Devito from New York and Vikram Ajjampur from Florida submitted the class-action suit at the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Florida last week. The two customers demand to put a stop to the capability of iPhones and 3G-equipped iPads from gathering and storing locations datas of customers.

Accoring to attorney Aaron Mayer who are representing the two complainants said, “We take issue specifically with the notion that Apple is now basically tracking people everywhere they go.” Mayer added that Apple conducted the tracking without a warrant which makes it illegal.

Ajjampur and Devito are asking for refund since they would not purchase the iDevice if they knew their privacy will be violated. According to them the company did the tracking without their knowledge of they would not allow it if they knew.

It can be remembered that two meticulous researchers blown Apple’s cover and released the information about “consolidated.db” last week. The issue immediately gained attention and lawsuit in this case. Until now the Cupertino Company remained silent on the issue.

The two researchers found out that iOS 4 mobile operating system in iPhone automatically creates file “consolidated.db,” with the latitude, longitude, and time stamp the device went with its owner.

The unencrypted data can be read by anyone and made analysts wonder its purpose since the researchers confirmed that the gathered data was not sent back to Apple or to a third-party.

The solution to disable “consolidated.db” on iOS 4 has not been found and the iDevice will continue to record the whereabouts of its users. Researchers on the other hand advised the users to strengthen their security by encrypting their iTunes backup files.

Consolidated.db on iOS 4 has stirred the concerns of officials. Companies in South Korea, France, Germany, and Italy are said to have started investigation the issue. U.S. officials also sent letter to Apple demanding explanation on why the data is collected.