US Judge orders Apple to prove that it’s not holding back evidence in iOS location tracking lawsuit

Apple has been told that from now on, it has to provide evidence that shows it is complying with court orders to turn over documentation related to a privacy lawsuit. Bloomberg has reported that Paul S. Grewal, a US Magistrate Judge, issued the order after the plaintiff’s lawyers said that Apple was holding back paperwork that they had been ordered to turn over. “Luckily for the plaintiffs, Apple has provided more than enough evidence itself to suggest to the court that it has not fully complied with the court’s order,” Grewal reportedly said. “In light of Apple’s performance in this case, the court cannot rely on its representations that this time it really has or will produce all responsive documents.” The original lawsuit alleges that Apple has collected data from millions of iOS users who were completely unaware that it was taking place. The claim is that even when geo-location functionality is turned off on the iPhone or iPad, the company is still able to retain data based on where they’ve been. What’s strange is that the evidence in question relates to an order given by Grewal last November. Apple waited more than three months before clarifying whether it had been able to supply the documentation – so it seems odd that until now, there has been no process in place to check for compliance. All of this behaviour, however, is part of the common and arguably trivial push-and-pull that companies go through to try to hand over as little information