Last week, iPhone and iPad App users filed two separate class action complaints against Apple and iOS App developers in the Northern District of California.  (The complaints are currently captioned Freeman v. Apple, Inc. and Lalo v. Apple, Inc.)  In both, the plaintiffs charge the defendant App developers with accessing and sharing personal information, including Unique Device IDs (“UDIDs”) and geolocation information, without prior consent in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and California law.  The Lalo plaintiffs also allege violations of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.  The complaints were filed shortly after the publication of a Wall Street Journal report (that we previously reported on here) that looked at 101 popular iPhone and Android Apps and found that many of them transmit UDID and geolocation information to third party advertising networks without obtaining permission from users.   

Regulators in the U.S. and abroad have expressed concern about the collection and use of geolocation information.  Most recently, the Federal Trade Commission’s recent draft report on consumer privacy indicated that precise geolocation data is sensitive information and that the Commission supports affirmative express consent where companies collect such data.

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Photo of Libbie Canter Libbie Canter

Libbie Canter represents a wide variety of multinational companies on privacy, cyber security, and technology transaction issues, including helping clients with their most complex privacy challenges and the development of governance frameworks and processes to comply with global privacy laws. She routinely supports…

Libbie Canter represents a wide variety of multinational companies on privacy, cyber security, and technology transaction issues, including helping clients with their most complex privacy challenges and the development of governance frameworks and processes to comply with global privacy laws. She routinely supports clients on their efforts to launch new products and services involving emerging technologies, and she has assisted dozens of clients with their efforts to prepare for and comply with federal and state privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act.

Libbie represents clients across industries, but she also has deep expertise in advising clients in highly-regulated sectors, including financial services and digital health companies. She counsels these companies — and their technology and advertising partners — on how to address legacy regulatory issues and the cutting edge issues that have emerged with industry innovations and data collaborations.

As part of her practice, she also regularly represents clients in strategic transactions involving personal data and cybersecurity risk. She advises companies from all sectors on compliance with laws governing the handling of health-related data. Libbie is recognized as an Up and Coming lawyer in Chambers USA, Privacy & Data Security: Healthcare. Chambers USA notes, Libbie is “incredibly sharp and really thorough. She can do the nitty-gritty, in-the-weeds legal work incredibly well but she also can think of a bigger-picture business context and help to think through practical solutions.”