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Apple Sued Over Applications Sending User Information Without Consent

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A Los Angeles County man is suing Apple for allowing iPhone and iPad applications to transmit users' personal information to advertising networks without customers' consent.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the lawsuit seeking class action, or group, status was filed on Dec. 23 in federal court in San Jose. The suit claims Apple's iPhones and iPads are encoded with identifying devices that allow advertising networks to track what applications users have downloaded, how frequently they're used or for how long.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jonathan Lalo of Los Angeles County. The filing did not identify what city Lalo lives in.

According to the report, the lawsuit identifies application such as Pandora, Paper Toss and the Weather Channel and names them as defendants along with Apple.

Lalo is represented by Scott A. Kamber and Avi Kreitenberg of KamberLaw LLC in New York.

Lalo claims the transmission of personal information is a violation of federal computer fraud and privacy laws. Class-action status for Apple customers who downloaded an application on their iPhone or iPad between Dec. 1, 2008 and last week.

(©2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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