German Court Rules Apple Cannot Request 'Global Consent' for Use of Customer Data

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Posted May 7, 2013 at 5:01pm by iClarified

A German court has ruled that Apple may not ask customers for 'global consent' to use their data, reports Bloomberg.

A total of fifteen provisions in Apple's general data-use terms were struck down because they deviated from German laws. Consumer group Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband took Apple to court over the illegal terms and conditions.

Apple asked customers in the terms for “global consent” to use their data, while German law requires that clients know in detail what data is used for what purpose, VZBV said. Apple also may not ask for permission to use names, addresses and phone numbers of users’ contacts. The court also blocked the iPad maker’s rule for delivering the data to other companies that use them for advertising, according to VZBV.

Apple can still appeal the decision.

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German Court Rules Apple Cannot Request 'Global Consent' for Use of Customer Data

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Vital issue being trivialized. - May 7, 2013 at 5:20pm

It's so sad that the U.S., once the beacon of liberty, has fallen so far behind the rest of the civilised world on privacy issues. It's especially sad to see the new generation's attitude on this issue, with comment like "unless you're a crook you got nothing to worry about". Maybe if they spent more time studying history than playing with their iPads, they'd have a different attitude. Hurray for Germany and the European Union on privacy rights, maybe a little bit will rub off on us... who am I kidding. :-(

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iFanboy - May 8, 2013 at 9:09am

Well said...100% on the money!