Apple could face penalties for bungling document handling in privacy suit
A U.S. judge on Tuesday scolded Apple for not handing over important documents pertaining to an ongoing privacy suit, inviting plaintiffs to level sanctions against the Cupertino tech giant for what was called "unacceptable conduct."
An in-court report from Bloomberg noted that U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal said document production, including emails and employee papers, from Apple had "more than doubled" since he began oversight of the case earlier in March.
In the case, Apple is accused of collecting, and disseminating with third-parties, location data from unknowing iPhone users, with tracking allegedly taking place even when device owners specifically disabled the handset's geo-location features.
Apple counsel had been reprimanded over its lack of discovery compliance before, and on March 6, Judge Grewal ">ordered
After reviewing the results, Judge Grewal told Apple lawyer Ashlie Beringer that it âdoesnât sound like you did a lick of workâ to double-check the efficacy of employees' document production. In response, Beringer said the Cupertino company had made âHerculean efforts over the last two weeksâ to resolve the issue, adding that document production was now complete.
According to the publication, Apple had turned over more than 2,000 documents since the jurist's order.
Most recently, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh ruled against an Apple motion to dismiss the case, saying she was unsettled by the company's attempt to have the suit thrown out based on documents it had not yet provided to plaintiffs' counsel.
11 Comments
Who gives a tinker's damn?
What is it he is looking for them to turn over? The proof they are not tracking users? If they aren't, how would they have anything to turn over?
[quote name="AppleInsider" url="/t/156557/apple-could-face-penalties-for-bungling-document-handling-in-privacy-suit#post_2297003"]A U.S. judge on Tuesday scolded Apple for not handing over important documents pertaining to an ongoing privacy suit, inviting plaintiffs to level sanctions against the Cupertino tech giant for what was called "unacceptable conduct."[/quote] Any news story that talks about plaintiffs leveling sanctions isn't worth reading.
[quote name="jragosta" url="/t/156557/apple-could-face-penalties-for-bungling-document-handling-in-privacy-suit#post_2297023"] Any news story that talks about plaintiffs leveling sanctions isn't worth reading.[/quote] It should have read "U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal... [B]invited plaintiffs' lawyers[/B] in the case to pursue sanctions " http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-19/apple-may-face-sanctions-over-documents-in-privacy-suit.html
This is really something of a moot issue. Basically someone doesn't agree with the keywords Apple used. Unless the Judge spelled out the required terms in advance and can prove Apple knowingly skipped some to avoid giving up info then its more a personal opinion issue that some kind of violation. The Judge probably doesn't want to seem soft on Apple so he'll wrist slap them and move on. And it won't matter in regards to Apple winning or losing