Apple Pays Korean iPhone User Over Privacy Issues

Apple's Korean office has paid compensation to a Changwon-based iPhone user who sued Apple Inc. for collecting location data without consent. This is the first time the iCompany has paid over these complaints.

This comes after Changwon District Court compelled Apple Korea to pay 1 million won ($946) worth of compensation to Kim Hyung-suk, who happens to be a lawyer, last May. Kim's law firm, Mirae Law, has reported that Apple paid the amount last month, something Apple Korea's spokesman declined to comment about.

Since then, Mirae Law is preparing a class action lawsuit against Apple for the same complaint. The website the law firm has set up to gather complainants was paralyzed due to heavy traffic.

The court decision could inspire other iPhone users outside Korea to follow suit, especially in United States where Apple is based. Two separate groups of iPhone and iPad users in America have since sued Apple, alleging that certain apps were passing personal user information to third-party advertisers without their consent.

Apple has since released a software update last May to fix the issue about collecting and storing a customer's location data, but the company has since received scrutiny over its alleged exploitation of user data for marketing purposes.
source: Gadget.com

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