U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, has decided that Apple must stand trial and answer to their iPhone customers' accusations. Users have complained that the company is collecting their data through its applications.

Apple is accused of collecting data such as locations without the customer's permission, when users have explicitly stated they don't want to share this kind of information. Judge Lucy Koh has strongly advised the iPhone maker not to try any "game play," warning Apple that an obstruction will not be tolerated.

She referred to the proper exchange of relevant documents and information between Apple and the plaintiffs. Apple's lawyers have tried to dismiss the case by arguing that the plaintiffs failed to point out to a "single, concrete injury inflicted on any one of the plaintiffs here, much less one that is traceable to defendant Apple Inc."

Apple explains that the information collected falls in the "non-personal" category. The company insists that it is in their rights to collect information such as zip and area codes in order to better understand the customer's behaviour.

In the preliminary hearing, however, iPhone customers won the right to go to trial. Apple's representatives were not available for comment on the situation.

Source: Bloomberg