Potential class action lawsuit against HTC filed on behalf of HTC EVO 3D and 4G owners
Imagine if your phone was recording everything you do, tracking every web page you visit, and transmitting your exact location to advertisers for targeted advertisements.
Well, October almost came and went with only two out of the three found and acted on. The third was filed for class action status in Seattle last week.
An application called Accuweather, which is included on all HTC EVO 3D and 4G devices, has evidently been recording your footsteps and transmitting your exact location, along with a device fingerprint, unencrypted, over the air for targeted advertising purposes.
While not as huge of a security hole as the other two issues this month, it is a bit disconcerting that yet another application that Sprint doesn't allow you to uninstall or turn off is sending TMI OTA.
The plaintiffs are seeking some monetary compensation and have filed claims of unlawful, deceptive trade practices and false advertising in Minnesota and somewhat related allegations in California dealing with unlawful and fraudulent business practices.
If they win, hopefully HTC and Sprint will start taking the hint and allow removal of third-party spyware. In the meantime, I wonder how many people are going to successfully use this alleged defect to get out of their Sprint contracts, and how many can successfully argue that all their devices are, by definition, broken. How many others are going to jump the stock ship and root their devices to get away from the non-stop HTC parade of fixes?
[Courthouse News Service]
