Kim Hyung-suk, South Korean iPhone User, Sues Apple Over Location Tracking--And Wins

SEOUL | Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:48am EDT

(Reuters) - Apple Inc's Korean unit has paid compensation to a user of its popular iPhone after collecting location data without consent, lawyers and court officials said, the first payout by the company over these complaints.

In May, Apple Korea was ordered by the court to pay 1 million won ($946) in compensation to Kim Hyung-suk, a lawyer, two officials at Changwon District Court told Reuters on Thursday. They declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Kim's law firm, Mirae Law, said Apple made payment last month. Steve Park, a spokesman for Apple Korea declined to comment.

Mirae Law said it was now preparing a class action lawsuit against Apple for the unauthorized data collection. A website for class action sign-up has been set up but was paralyzed due to heavy traffic. (www.sueapple.co.kr)

Apple released a software update in May to fix a problem that enabled its mobile devices to collect and store customers' location data. The revelation that Apple's iPhone collected data and stored it for up to a year has prompted renewed scrutiny of the nexus between location and privacy.

U.S. lawmakers have accused the technology industry of exploiting location data for marketing purposes - a potentially multibillion-dollar industry -- without getting proper consent from phone users.

Two separate U.S. groups of iPhone and iPad users have sued Apple, alleging that certain software applications were passing personal user information to third-party advertisers without consent.

Google Inc's Seoul office was raided in May on suspicion its mobile advertising unit AdMob had illegally collected location data without consent, in the latest setback to the Internet search firm's Korean operations.

Executives of both Apple and Google have said they did not abuse the information.

Any class action may further pressure Apple in the home market of its key rival Samsung Electronics.

Samsung's flagship Galaxy S smartphone has emerged as a major competitor to the iPhone.

The iPhone is sold by top mobile carrier SK Telecom and second-ranked KT Corp in South Korea. KT, the major seller of the iPhone, said its iPhone subscribers reach more than 2.7 million, while SK Telecom declined to provide any details.

Apple sold a record 18.65 million units of its blockbuster iPhone globally in the March quarter.

($1 = 1056.800 Korean Won)

(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Anshuman Daga and Lincoln Feast)
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions

Comments

[Stefan Thompson]

04:45 AM on 07/15/2011

Apple is suing someone else and other people are suing Apple. Apple's sure has a lot of suing going around.

[inguatu]

07:08 AM on 07/15/2011

They wouldn't be Apple if they didn't try to sue anyone instead of innovating.

[David305]

10:49 PM on 07/14/2011

Oh no! My gps is globally positioning systematically me! Help!!!

[undrgrndgirl]

10:48 PM on 07/14/2011

well...go south korea...lord knows u.s. courts won't protect consumers, er...i mean citizens.

[Draekia]

02:29 AM on 07/15/2011

Thing is, we don't really know what grounds he won this case ON.

The ruling could be due to some mis-translation of the terms of service or some law on the books in the RoK.

[inguatu]

07:08 AM on 07/15/2011

or the stark reality that apple are douches?

[Brad Martin]

10:27 PM on 07/14/2011

So they purchased a GPS, but now they are complaining about being tracked. Now if the phone didn't track their where they were at, then they would be suing because the GPS didn't work. You sign the cell phone contract so deal with it. You give up all your rights when you have a cell phone.

[Goose8]

05:15 AM on 07/15/2011

I believe it's because the information was stored. GPS is one thing to help locate a lost or stolen phone, but when it is physically stored somewhere, that's where Apple crossed the line (knowingly or not.)

[Draekia]

08:35 AM on 07/15/2011

The info was stored was Cell tower location data to assist in the GPS triangulation function.

It wasn't so much a line crossed as a needed step to improve functionality of a device.

That said, the data should have been encrypted and its purpose made far clearer in documentation. That there is the greatest mistake.

[Shukr]

08:07 PM on 07/14/2011

That's basically almost one iPhone in America. Lol

[gretchenart]

01:42 AM on 07/15/2011

maybe one iPad.

[inguatu]

07:09 AM on 07/15/2011

it's the victory that counts, not the amount.

[Sheldon archer]

07:31 PM on 07/14/2011

As usual, Big Brother is watching you and nobody seems to care much.

[Pavane]

09:01 PM on 07/14/2011

Hmmm ... 'Big Brother' means government. However, in this instance, people are being abused by PRIVATE BUSINESS ... you know, Capitalists who want no regulations to protect you.

[David305]

10:50 PM on 07/14/2011

You assume there's a difference between Government and big companies? Lol riiiiiiight.

[platypterus]

06:56 PM on 07/14/2011

Don't know about that one. But, since its that easy to win, I think I'm going to sue _____ insurance company for continuing to draft monthly payments from my account after two years of requesting and documenting they stop.

One attorney said I would be made whole for only the funds drafted. I still believe I would have a good case. Nonetheless, this ladies case seems to be relatively weak. But, a court said Apple was liable.

[ResearchtheFacts]

06:46 PM on 07/14/2011

I wouldn't want a phone I have to be this concerned over -- whether it will make a call, if someone is tracking me, if hackers have exploited the security holes to steal my personal data, if it is taking random pictures of me...get rid of the iworry.  The phone is an asset for Apple but a liability for end users.

[CaptainObvvious]

08:24 PM on 07/14/2011

Couldn't be more of a ridiculous statement.

Alarmist nonsense based on the ramblings of an Apple hater.

[Pavane]

09:05 PM on 07/14/2011

Well, you ARE being tracked And, hackers HAVE been stealing personal data through downloading Apps ... so it's not so alarmist or Apple hating.

[undrgrndgirl]

10:45 PM on 07/14/2011

i believe you should change your name to "captain oblivious"

[macmanchgo]

06:08 PM on 07/14/2011

People would be far better served by showing some outrage over the Patriot Act. But no, lets go after Apple, cause after all its not really about spying, its about cell phone wars.

[StevieRae]

06:10 PM on 07/14/2011

touche'

[Quiet Desperation]

08:10 PM on 07/14/2011

I agree with you....but this happened in South Korea. Pretty sure the Patriot Act isn't relevant to this particular case.

[macmanchgo]

11:25 AM on 07/15/2011

Ok if this story is only relevant to S. Korea, then I guess Apple did nothing wrong in the U.S., and we shouldn't be concerned. If it is relevant to the U.S. then the people concerned with this story should be MORE concerned with the Patriot Act and get on board that discussion before wasting time on this case that is clearly a Cell Phone Wars issue.

[ibivi]

05:42 PM on 07/14/2011

Unfortunately Apple is not the only company who installs secret items into consumer goods. Mostly they are installed to help police with crime investigation or terrorist activity. Phones are ubiquitous now. They are used for all kinds of private and confidential ways in public and at home. Do we not have the right to privacy even in our own homes?

[inguatu]

07:12 AM on 07/15/2011

Doesn't matter in this case that others are doing it. In this case, Apple was the one brought to trial. That's like saying "well Timmy did it so I thought I could do it too.".

[Cheezburgerz]

05:19 PM on 07/14/2011

Look at me, I'm so indie and hip with all my apple products.

...no you're not, you filthy corporate slave

[blurredmolly]

05:36 PM on 07/14/2011

the stuff works, h8er. deal with it.

[Quiet Desperation]

08:11 PM on 07/14/2011

True indeed.....but, "works" is a two-way street.

[Odaecom]

04:44 PM on 07/14/2011

Those commenting about shutting off location services, on the first gen iPhone I can only turn all off so if I dont want to have my photos geo-tagged I cant use the Google maps location services, (even-though sometimes it puts me 20 miles from where I am).
And most don't realize that their newer iPhone is setting the exact coordinates of where they took the photo into the EXIF data. (At least Fb scrubs that data upon upload, but other photo sharing sites don't).

[omg wtf lol bbq]

04:59 PM on 07/14/2011

I had a first-gen iPhone and its GPS system was pretty accurate, actually. The GPS in my iPhone 4, OTOH, isn't nearly as accurate as dedicated hardware but good enough to get me from point A to point B.

[Cutiepieblue]

04:09 PM on 07/14/2011

So a lawyer sues Apple, but has yet to figure out you can turn location services off?

[Json]

04:19 PM on 07/14/2011

Is it that easy to do?

[icstars]

04:42 PM on 07/14/2011

Settings : General : Location Settings on/off

[icstars]

04:43 PM on 07/14/2011

Sorry, it's "location services" not "location settings."

[formerroadie]

05:01 PM on 07/14/2011

My question is, why is it turned on as the default?

[informedconsent]

04:04 PM on 07/14/2011

I am waiting for the US Supreme Court to overturn this decision.

Then for someone to tell Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, etc. that they have no authority in Korea.

[Jim NLN]

04:29 PM on 07/14/2011

They must overturn this, we cannot let Korean law be practiced in Korean. Before you know it Korean law and Sharia law will be duking it out over here.

[formerroadie]

05:01 PM on 07/14/2011

LMAO!

[TheHandyman]

03:31 PM on 07/14/2011

The US prides itself in being the best in stopping corporate crime and the DOJ isn't even investigating this. Of course any class action lawsuit against Apple here became impossible after another brillian decision by the corporate owned Judges on the Supreme Court!

[joebloggs724]

03:41 PM on 07/14/2011

Apple's supposed tracking is not exactly the sort of "corporate crime" the DOJ should be spending its time on. And in the US, plaintiffs would have to prove that they were damaged by the unauthorized collection of data. That simply ain't going to happen.

[truthinperson]

03:58 PM on 07/14/2011

Having your right to privacy violated constitutes damages. http://privacy.uslegal.com/damages/

[TheHandyman]

09:22 PM on 07/14/2011

Wrong again! I simply don't have the time to explain to village idiots the ramifications of the ruling and what the DOJ's responsibility is. When you graduate from high school or get your GED, learn how to do the research!