They sue Apple for data collection in its applications

‘Stocks,’ for example, was tracking users’ watch lists, the names of stocks they viewed and searched for, and the news articles they viewed on the app. Most of the apps shared consistent ID numbers, the lawsuit claims, which would allow users to be tracked across their apps..

In light of these new findings, the lawsuit alleges that Apple’s guarantees and promises regarding privacy are “absolutely false.” It also noted that this level of data collection was not commensurate with industry standard practices, as both Google Chrome and the Microsoft Edge browser could not collect the same type of data if their own analytics settings were turned off.

The affected individuals are seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class action, compensatory, statutory and punitive damages, plus other equitable monetary relief.

So far the company has not commented.

This type of data collection would raise questions about Apple’s implementation of Tracking Transparency (ATT), which the company says would give users more control over how data from their apps is used in personalized advertising.

As critics have pointed out, ATT hurt the ad businesses of major tech companies like Meta and Snapchat, while Apple’s own ad market share increased.