Apple Korea paid its first ever compensation in South Korea to an iPhone user over a controversial function that tracks users’ locations, which caused psychological damages, reports Yonhap News.
The Changwon District Court ordered Apple Korea to pay 1 million won (US $1,000) in compensation to the claimant, Kim Hyung-suk, a 36-year old attorney and iPhone user, who claims that the smartphone’s location recording infringed on his constitutional rights to privacy and freedom and caused psychological stress.
Apple Korea did not make an appeal to the ruling and paid the requested amount.
According to the report, the lawsuit claims that tracking one’s location infringes upon Article 17 of the Constitution, which ensures an individual’s basic right to privacy and calculated the psychological damages at 200,000 won per month for five months of iPhone use.
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29 other iPhone users filed lawsuits against the Cupertino-based electronics maker in late April in Seoul over similar complaints and the latest court decision, which is Apple’s first ever compensation settlement in the country, is expected to trigger an array of similar lawsuits.
South Korea has about 3 million iPhone users.
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