Apple sued over app 'data leaks'

29 December 2010 Last updated at 06:32 ET

Two groups of iPhone and iPad users are suing Apple saying apps for the gadgets leak personally identifiable data.

The groups want to stop personal data being passed around without owners being notified or compensated.

Apple is just one of six application makers being pursued by the two groups of consumers.

The legal firm putting together one class action lawsuit said it might also take action against Google over data leaking from Android applications.

Backflip Studios, the Weather Channel, Dictionary.com and others were named in court papers supporting the lawsuits.

The papers allege that many applications collect so much personal data that users can be individually identified. This is despite Apple operating a policy that allows data to be shared with third parties only if an app requires the information to keep running.

The complainants said many firms, including advertisers, were managing to track and identify individuals via the unique device ID Apple assigns to every gadget. Apple does not do enough to enforce its privacy policy or restrict use of unique IDs, they allege.

Apple has yet to respond to requests for comment.

The law firm behind one of the class action lawsuits said it was considering whether to prepare a case against Google, saying that many Android applications leak personal data too.

Despite the filing of separate lawsuits, some experts suggest the court cases will not succeed.

"If this were a major issue, all web browsers would have to shut down and there would not be any advertising on the internet," Trip Chowdhry, Global Equities research analyst, told Reuters.

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Attack hits Anonymous activists

29 December 2010 Last updated at 09:35 ET

The notorious message board 4Chan has been taken offline by an overwhelming web attack.

Thanks to the attack, the discussion boards of the site have been hard to reach or offline for almost 24 hours.

The attack might be retaliation for similar attacks that some 4Chan members, as part of the Anonymous group, mounted in support of Wikileaks.

It is not yet clear who is carrying out the attacks and no-one has come forward to claim responsibility.

News about the large-scale web attack, known as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, came to light via a message posted on Twitter by Moot, the founder of 4Chan.

He wrote: "Site is down due to DDoS. We now join the ranks of Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, et al - an exclusive club!"

A DDoS attack involves bombarding a server behind a website with data in an attempt to knock it offline.

Many members of 4Chan work together in the guise of a group called Anonymous to carry out attacks on websites they deem to be enemies of freedom of speech.

Most recently, Anonymous members took action in support of whistle-blowing site Wikileaks. Anonymous used a DDoS tool to hit the corporate websites of Mastercard, Visa and Paypal because the firms had cut off payment connections to Wikileaks.

Paul Mutton, a security analyst at site watching firm Netcraft, said the attack on 4Chan was ongoing.

"For most of the past 24 hours, the site has either been very slow to respond or has been completely unreachable," he said.

Statistics gathered by Netcraft show 4Chan was hit hard early on Wednesday but that it recovered towards the afternoon.

A blog showing the status of the various elements of 4Chan suggests the image boards, the most heavily used part of the site, have been down for hours.

Early reports suggested that a hacktivist known as the Jester was behind the attack. Before now, some members of Anonymous said they would target the Jester with DDoS attacks after he declared an ambition to knock Wikileaks offline.

However, in a Twitter message, the Jester denied any involvement in the attack.

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