S. Korean iPhone users to file class action suit against Apple Wednesday

SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Yonhap) -- A class action lawsuit seeking compensation for privacy violations by U.S. electronics maker Apple Inc. will be filed on Wednesday with a regional court in South Korea, a law firm dealing with the litigation said. A total of 27,612 Korean users of Apple's iPhone joined a class action suit last month demanding compensation for the smartphone's user location tracking functions that they claimed violated their right to privacy, said Miraelaw, the law firm based in Changwon, 398 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The company said it will lodge the suit with the Changwon District Court Wednesday morning to demand the U.S.-based headquarters of Apple and its local unit Apple Korea pay 1 million won (US$934.8) in compensation per person. The company will use the country's Internet litigation service to file the suit for 26,691 out of the total 27,612 iPhone users who joined the action, it said. Lawsuits representing the remaining users will be filed in the near future after necessary paperwork, it added. The class action suit came after an attorney of the law firm received 1 million won in Apple's first ever compensation payment here after the regional court accepted in a summary decision the attorney's request of compensation for iPhone's secret functions to track and store data on users' location.