Users Sue Apple Over Location Tracking Claims

US iPhone and iPad users Vikram Ajjampur and William Devito are suing Apple, following allegations which broke last week stating that the firm tracks users' locations through their mobile devices.

A group of UK security researchers revealed that data about users' whereabouts is stored on their mobile devices in a file containing the latitude and longitude of the phone's coordinates, as well as a timestamp. This data is then copied onto the owners' computers when the two systems are linked, and is shifted onto any new iPhone or iPad.

Information is not encrypted on the phone, which the researchers say could be a problem if a device or computer is stolen, as the location information could be easily extracted.

The Guardian newspaper quoted from the iTunes terms and conditions which state that Apple and its partners and licensees may collect, use, and share precise location data, including the real-time geographic location of users' Apple computer or device.

Ajjampur and Devito claim that by collecting this information Apple is violating the federal computer fraud statute: they seek damages and an injunction requiring Apple to stop the practice.

In their complaint filed in the US District Court in Tampa, Florida, the pair say: 'If Apple wanted to track the whereabouts of each of its products' users, it should have obtained specific, particularized informed consent such that Apple consumers across America would not have been shocked and alarmed to learn of Apple's practices in recent days.'

Apple is also facing scrutiny from Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.), Chair of a new privacy subcommittee, who has asked Apple and Google executives to testify at a May 10 hearing about mobile privacy. In addition, Republican Ed Markey has sent Apple CEO Steve Jobs a series of questions about the firm's devices' tracking capabilities, including whether Apple had disclosed to customers that their devices stored a record of their locations.

Meanwhile in Korea, the country's Communications Commission has asked the firm for information on how often data is collected and how long it is stored; whether users can choose whether to save or delete it; and whether Apple obtained users' consent.

In his firm's defence, Jobs says that instead of tracking the user's actual location, the iPhone and iPad track and log the location of 'Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away'.