Judge Not Letting Apple Get Away With Not Giving Documents In Privacy Lawsuit

Apple is known for its secrecy, but it looks like the company is going to have to reveal a few things. Apple is being forced by U.S. Judge Paul S. Grewal to give detailed evidence of how it’s complying with court orders to turn over evidence in a privacy lawsuit because the judge can no longer trust what Apple tells him concerning this case.

The judge issued this order after the plaintiffs’ lawyers claimed that Apple withheld documents that it had been ordered to produce. Grewal said that he already “refereed” the dispute and that it is “unacceptable” for Apple to wait more than three months to confirm whether it has complied with the November court order to turn over the documents.

In the order, Grewal wrote:

Luckily for the plaintiffs, Apple has provided more than enough evidence itself to suggest to the court that it has not fully complied with the court’s order. In light of Apple’s performance in this case, the court cannot rely on its representations that this time it really has or will produce all responsive documents.

In turning over the documents, Apple may reveal some inner workings that the company usually works really hard to hide.

Apple is also being accused of collecting customers’ location data from iPhones even if they have their geo-location services turned off and giving third parties access to that information without consent. Apple argued that it is withholding some requested documents in the case to protect customer privacy. Despite this, Grewal ordered Apple to submit a detailed account by March 8.

Image Credit: Trading Desk

Kaylie lives in Ottawa and got her first Mac in 2007 and is now a fan for life.