Mobile Device Privacy Lawsuit Filed in Texas

A lawsuit filed in Texas is concerned with the privacy rights of mobile device users, according to a press release. The class action lawsuit alleges that the privacy rights of mobile users are being subverted in several ways by various applications—called "apps" on these devices—that are loaded onto  products such as Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod devices and devices loaded with the Android mobile operating system. The lawsuit alleges that these users are having their address book data harvested without being made aware of it.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in the US District Court of the Western District of Texas. Class action lawsuits seek to represent the claims of many different plaintiffs in one representative case. In this particular instance, the class is made up of users who used an app on a mobile device that shared their address book without asking for the user's permission. The lawsuit is based on the right to privacy and contends that the app manufacturers violated both state and federal law.

User Data and Digital Devices

It's inevitable that there will be more Texas court cases involving privacy and technology. There have been plenty of contentious debates already surrounding such issues and it's likely that they will continue into the future.

Privacy and Mobile Tech

Privacy is a growing concern for both the technology and legal communities. There are plenty of applications and websites that harvest user data and that share it in ways that the user may not be informed of. There are also mobile applications that do access address book information, location information and other data that the user may not be aware of.
Sharing personal data is something that any consumer has the right to decide upon for themselves. There are some technologies out there, however, that may be sharing your data in ways that you did not consent to or with entities that you did not want them to share it with. The civil courts may provide you with a remedy in these situations.
Talk to an attorney about filing a lawsuit if you believe that you have been taken advantage of in this way. When you use a product, you have a right to know what risks you're taking and, as the aforementioned lawsuit states, your right to privacy does not disappear when you use an app. An attorney may recommend that you file a lawsuit in response to companies that violate your privacy.