South Korea fines Apple over device location data

Apple's South Korean unit has been fined three million won (Dh10,486) by the country's communications regulator after the iPhone and iPad maker collected location data from users without proper authorisation. The fine, though small, marks the first time Apple has been punished by a regulator over the controversial local data collection. Some 27,800 South Korean iPhone and iPad users are planning to launch a class action suit against Apple over the matter. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) also ordered corrective measures on the South Korean operations of Apple and Google, saying it has found loopholes in systems supposed to protect location information. It ordered the technology giants to encrypt location data stored in smartphones. The revelation in April that Apple's iPhones collected location data and stored it for up to a year — even when location software was supposedly turned off — has prompted renewed scrutiny of the nexus between location and privacy. Article continues below Criticised Apple has since issued a patch to fix the problem. "Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so," said Steve Park, a spokesman for Apple Korea. Google, a fierce competitor of Apple in mobile computing, has also faced criticism over reports that Android-based phones track the locations of users. Google said location-sharing on its Android mobile platform was strictly opt-in. In June, Apple paid a Korean lawyer one million won in a court ruling regarding its location data collection, the first payout by the US tech giant over these complaints.