US judge dismisses data privacy suit against Apple

A California federal judge has dismissed a consumer lawsuit over data privacy against Apple, after the plaintiffs failed to prove they had relied on Apple misrepresentations when purchasing devices and subsequently suffered harm.

The four plaintiffs claimed in 2011 that Apple had violated its privacy policy by designing its iOS environment to easily transmit personal information to third parties which collect and analyse such data without user consent or detection.

They also claimed they suffered damages by paying too much money for their iPhones and by losing storage space, among other things, according to court documents.

US District Judge Lucy H. Koh dismissed the case.

"Plaintiffs must be able to provide some evidence that they saw one or more of Apple's alleged misrepresentations, that they actually relied on those misrepresentations, and that they were harmed thereby," Koh said in the ruling.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs and Apple either did not respond to requests for comment or declined to comment.

The case is one part of nationwide litigation Koh is overseeing that consolidates 19 related lawsuits.