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.
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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