Apple sued for allegedly misleading consumers over iCloud+ privacy feature in class-action complaint

A California man is suing Apple in a proposed class-action lawsuit for allegedly misleading consumers about the privacy benefits of iCloud’s paid subscription tier – saying it falsely claimed that users’ IP addresses would be hidden.Edward Rickman said he purchased iCloud+ for access to iCloud Private Relay, a feature that Apple promises will “Hide your IP address and browsing activity in Safari and protect your unencrypted internet traffic,” according to a suit filed last week in California federal court.Apple charges customers between $0.99 to $59.99 a month for the premium iCloud subscription, depending on how much storage they wanted, according to its website.But three flaws in Apple’s WebKit, which powers the Safari browser, allowed websites to access users’ real IP addresses even when the premium feature was switched on, the lawsuit alleged. “Apple built its entire brand on the promise that it would protect its users’ privacy when no other company would,” Tim Giordano, a partner at Clarkson Law Firm, which is leading the litigation, told The Post.“For Apple’s iCloud users to now learn that for years they were paying Apple a premium for a protection that simply didn’t work, exposing them to the very tracking, profiling, and targeting Apple warned them about, is an outrageous violation and betrayal of consumer trust and law.”Earlier this year, Clarkson Law Firm secured a $250 million settlement from Apple over claims it misled consumers on Siri’s AI features.The lawsuit is seeking an injunction on Apple’s alleged false marketing, along with attorneys’ fees and relief of at least $5 million for all members of the class.That includes all US citizens who paid for iCloud+ and enabled Private Relay within a certain time frame.Apple first unveiled iCloud Private Relay at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2021, releasing it later that year as part of an iOS update.During that presentation, Apple claimed that Private ...