Apple class action lawsuit begins in South Korea

CLOSE TO 27,000 PEOPLE in South Korea are suing Apple for collecting location data without their permission as part of a large-scale class action lawsuit seeking a total of 27.6bn won (£16m) from the Cupertino, California company.

26,691 people are involved in the lawsuit, which was filed yesterday by lawyer Kim Hyeong-seok, who won a personal lawsuit for 1m won (£575) in July. Kim is now looking to secure the same settlement for each person in the class action lawsuit.

The payments are not exactly going to drain Apple of funds, considering that each person stands to get less than they likely spent on Apple products, but the number of people involved makes the final figure of £16m not something Apple can ignore. Apple can easily afford it, of course, having earned around £4.5bn in its last fiscal quarter alone, but possible further lawsuits around the world could make a bigger dent in its earnings.

Kim said that there are another 921 people waiting to join the case, according to the Associated Press. These are minors and thus need their parents' permission to sign up, which will most likely happen without issue. Kim expects they will join the tally within the next two weeks.

Apple drew the wrath of South Koreans after revelations that its Iphones were collecting location information without user consent and storing the information for as long as a year. The Korea Communications Commission investigated the company and fined it 3m won (£1,726) earlier this month.

Apple faces similar investigations in Europe and the US, where fines are usually considerably higher. It's also likely that any payouts for individual lawsuits in these regions will be a lot steeper than what is being sought in South Korea.

Apple has attempted to make amends by updating its software and promising not to store location data beyond a seven day period. It will also make sure that data is encrypted, one of the strongest criticisms leveled at it by South Korean regulators.

The class action trial is expected to begin in October or November. µ