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More privacy suits against Apple may be coming

Apple is facing one privacy lawsuit brought by a user earlier this week, but one lawyer predicts more are on the way as consumers turn to the courts to protect their privacy.

Jim Dalrymple Special to CNET News
Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to record music using a Macintosh. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. He currently runs The Loop.
Jim Dalrymple

Earlier this week Apple was sued, along with several app developers, for allegedly sending personal information to ad networks without the users' knowledge or consent. According to one industry lawyer, there could be more lawsuits on the way.

Speaking with InformationWeek on Wednesday, attorney Kevin Pomfret said the trend of consumers turning to the courts to protect their privacy is likely to continue. "I would not be surprise if there were more lawsuits," said Pomfret.

A lawyer who advises businesses on privacy issues, Pomfret said the law is "unclear" in this area.

Apple is no stranger to lawsuits over the iPhone. The company has been sued by big companies like Nokia, Motorola, and HTC. Apple has also been sued by individuals for not revealing that the battery was not user-replaceable and, in 2009, for MMS not being available on the iPhone.

This is also not the first time Apple has been named in a lawsuit against an app developer. In 2009, Tune Hunter sued music-finding service Shazam of patent infringement and named Apple, as well as a host of other companies, in its lawsuit.

The latest privacy lawsuit claims ad networks are able to trace an iPhone or iPad using the unique device identifier. The suit says the practice violates federal computer fraud and privacy laws.