Philip Janquart reports that Apple’s Christmas got a little bit better when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against it by Maria Pirozzi.
Pirozzi had sued Apple for allegedly failing to screen third-party app developers whose apps upload user information from mobile devices.
In her complaint, Pirozzi calls out apps such as Angry Birds, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, Instagram and Hipster for allegedly uploading the contact names, private photographs and other personal information of users without permission.
Many third-party applications ask users for permission to use their “current location” before opening an application. The class said this permission gives the application developers unfettered access.
Apple argued, however, that the Communications Decency Act bars the lawsuit. It also said Pirozzi lacks standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution and that she failed to state a claim for relief. It said she did not demonstrate that the alleged privacy breach affected her financially, or that any third-party app uploaded personal information from her mobile device.
Read more on Courthouse News. The judge granted Apple’s motion to dismiss, but left the door open for Pirozzi to file an amended complaint.
I’m not a lawyer, so this might be a naive question, but shouldn’t lawyers be ensuring that their client’s complaint has some evidence that something bad actually happened before filing a lawsuit? This is the second dismissal I’ve seen recently where the defendant turned around and said there’s no proof anything even happened.