A class action suit has been filed in Western Texas on behalf of 18 plaintiffs, going after some companies that you might have heard of. The defendants include Apple, Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp.
The defendants — several of the world’s largest and most influential technology and social networking companies — have unfortunately made, distributed and sold mobile software applications that, once installed on a wireless mobile device, surreptitiously harvest, upload and illegally steal the owner’s address book data without the owner’s knowledge or consent.
It appears to be inspired by several recent revelations about smartphone and tablet apps that grab information like address books off of user smartphones without clear permission being given. Apple and Google have already announced changes and revisions to make these permissions more explicit but the suit was filed regardless. Will it ever make it to trial? Will it get dismissed? What am I, Judge Judy, I don’t know! But it’s a sign that the case of the sneaky data-slurping apps is far from settled.
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