Apple sued over apps privacy issues; Google may be next

BANGALORE (Reuters) – Two separate groups of iPhone and iPad users have sued Apple Inc alleging that certain software applications were passing personal user information to third-party advertisers without consent.

In the lawsuits seeking class action, filed in a federal court in California, the plaintiffs sought a ban on passing of user information without consent and monetary compensation, according to case documents.

At some point, both cases may be consolidated into one by the judges presiding over the cases, said Majed Nachawati, a partner at law firm Fears & Nachawati, one of the attorneys for the complainants.

Along with Apple, makers of popular apps such as Textplus4, Paper Toss, Weather Channel, Dictionary.com, Talking Tom Cat and Pumpkin Maker were also named co-defendants in the lawsuits filed on December 23.

The lawsuits follow a December 18 report in the Wall Street Journal that said smartphones apps may be sharing personal data "widely and regularly," and that iPhone apps transmitted more data than apps on phones using Google's Android operating system.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_apple_lawsuit