A new lawsuit filed Monday against Apple and a number of app developers including Pandora, The Weather Channel, Dictionary.com and — uh — Pimple Popper Lite is alleging collusion to create secret profiles of iPhone users, including location, and pass that data onto advertisers without users’ consent.
The fact that apps do not in fact do this is not really contested. What the suit is referring to is the practice of some app makers of passing on identifying and location information about a user to the companies flashing ads inside the apps without asking permission, which is made possible by Apple’s practice of assigning a UDID, or Unique Device Identity, to each iOS device, which apps can easily access. Advertisers can then use this number for tracking if passed along to them by app developers… a process detailed by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month.
The suit, filed in a North Carolina federal court, seeks a court order to stop the collection by advertisers of UDIDs, as well as monetary damages.
