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Lawyer Sues Apple Over FaceTime Eavesdrop Bug, Says It Let Someone Record a Sworn Testimony (cnbc.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the always-listening dept.

A lawyer in Houston has filed a lawsuit against Apple over a security vulnerability that let people eavesdrop on iPhones using FaceTime. "His lawsuit, filed Monday in Harris County, Texas, alleges that Apple 'failed to exercise reasonable care' and that Apple 'knew, or should have known, that its Product would cause unsolicited privacy breaches and eavesdropping,'" reports CNBC. "It alleged Apple did not adequately test its software and that Apple was 'aware there was a high probability at least some consumers would suffer harm.'" From the report: The suit says that Williams was "undergoing a private deposition with a client when this defective product breached allowed for the recording" of the conversation. Williams claimed this caused "sustained permanent and continuous injuries, pain and suffering and emotional trauma that will continue into the future" and that Williams "lost ability to earn a living and will continued to be so in the future." The lawsuit also says that iOS 12.1, the latest major release of the iPhone operating system, was defective and "unreasonable dangerous" and that Apple "failed to provide adequate warnings to avoid the substantial danger" posed by the security flaw. Williams is seeking compensatory and punitive damages as a result of the exploit.

3 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. Re:No standard on testing - wild wild west by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Scanning the lawsuit as filed it doesn't actually seem to provide any evidence that his call was illegally recorded. He doesn't seem to have any reason to think that it might have been.

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  2. Note he doesn't claim he was actually recorded by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just that the bug "allowed for" recording. Gotta watch those lawyers.

    The full complaint is here and makes for some entertaining reading. This 30-page gem was filed by a local personal injury attorney 4 years out of law school the next day after the plaintiff supposedly found out about the bug. 'Nuff said.

  3. What about the lawyers own negligence? by DarkOx · · Score: 3, Informative

    Why did he think bringing a powered on recording device to private meeting where no recording should take place was good opsec?

    Smart phones have no place in a secure facility.

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