Apple could be forced to pay damages totalling 27 billion won ($25.5million) if more than 27,800 Koreans successfully win their case against the iPhone-maker after it was accused of violating domestic laws on privacy.
Korean law firm Miraelaw is representing the plaintiffs – the number of which stood at 27,802 at midnight July 31 – and will file the suit against Apple Korea in the middle of the month at the latest. The Korea Herald says that with 3 million iPhone owners in the country, around 1 percent of them have contributed and participated to file the class action suit.
If they win, the law firm will see 1 million won compensation for each individual who was named in the suit, ultimately costing the company 27 billion won ($25.5 million). It will also send lawyers to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino to possibly negotiate an out-of-court settlement.
Apple has already paid a Korean man after it was ruled that the company had collected his iPhone’s location log without his permission. It paid the man 1 million won ($925) but will be forced to pay him again if the class action suit is successful.
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The location debacle continues to haunt Apple, especially in Korea where the company isn’t held in high regard. When the class action suit was first announced, the sign-up website crashed under the weight over visitors.
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