Group FaceTime iOS 12.1 eavesdropping bug lawsuit is dismissed

AppleInsider · May 10, 2019 7:48PM

A U.S. District Court in Houston has granted Apple's request to dismiss a lawsuit over a Group FaceTime bug in iOS 12.1, which at launch allowed third parties to eavesdrop on conversations.

The case was dismissed for several reasons, according to court documents. The first is that the plaintiff, lawyer Larry Williams II, argued that Apple was "strictly liable" to him because it failed to give people warnings or instructions about the glitch. Williams alleged that the bug made iOS 12.1 "unreasonably dangerous," according to District Judge Lee Rosenthal, but without asserting facts that could show Apple had foreknowledge of the problem or the possibility that someone would listen in on Williams's conversations.

The court likewise rejected claims of negligence -- since Williams didn't indicate duty of care or how it was breached -- along with charges of fraud and breaching warranty, as he didn't reference any specific promises by Apple.

Williams is still free to submit an amended complaint by June 7. If he fails to do so the case may be dismissed with prejudice, meaning he'll be unable to launch further actions.

In January this year reports emerged that through Group FaceTime, it was possible to listen in on a recipient's FaceTime audio even if the person didn't answer. Apple responded by temporarily disabling Group FaceTime, only restoring it with the arrival of iOS 12.1.4. In some cases, attackers could even stream video from a victim's camera.

Williams alleged that an unknown party was able to listen in while he was taking sworn testimony during a client deposition.

Controversially, Apple was told about the bug over a week before it reacted. The company eventually paid teenager Grant Thompson through its bug bounty program, also contributing to his education.

fred stein · May 10, 2019 7:53PM

If anyone uses any speaker phone anywhere, it is easy for anyone to eavesdrop. Likewise for any conferencing applications.

ihatescreennames · May 10, 2019 7:59PM

It’s nice to hear that every once in a while a stupid lawsuit is dismissed.

apple ][ · May 10, 2019 8:35PM

Good.

This is one of the reasons why I am skeptical about the whole right to repair thing. I don't want to be reading a ton of articles about moronic people suing Apple for ridiculous reasons.

Fatman · May 10, 2019 9:06PM

Ambulance chaser - can he quantify damages caused by the glitch? If so, maybe he has a case.

lkrupp · May 10, 2019 9:31PM

AppleInsider said:

The court likewise rejected claims of negligence -- since Williams didn't indicate duty of care or how it was breached -- along with charges of fraud and breaching warranty, as he didn't reference any specific promises by Apple.

So he threw some shit at the wall to see if any of it would stick? Did he ever prove his confidential conversations were actually eavesdropped upon as he claimed?

ericthehalfbee · May 10, 2019 9:55PM

This guy must not be a very good lawyer to have a case dismissed because of procedural issues.

sflocal · May 10, 2019 10:48PM

Apple should sue this ambulance chaser for court fees.

AppleExposed · May 11, 2019 2:18AM

ihatescreennames said:

It’s nice to hear that every once in a while a stupid lawsuit is dismissed.

Too late, the damage has already been done. I've seen several iKnockoff Knights cite this ridiculous lawsuit as proof Apple is spying on us, which in turn causes more idiots to believe it. Meanwhile they use ANDROID.....

jdw · May 11, 2019 2:35AM

The greatest article of the century, if not the millennium would be named thusly:

Every lawsuit everywhere across the globe was DISMISSED!

It's time to turn the other cheek and realize life can indeed go on without litigation.

No Suing. It does a Human good.

jameskatt2 · May 11, 2019 9:04AM

sflocal said:

Apple should sue this ambulance chaser for court fees.

Judges in cases like this may simply award Apple with legal fees owed to them by the plaintiff. No need for another lawsuit.

Johan42 · May 11, 2019 9:41PM

AppleExposed said:

ihatescreennames said:

It’s nice to hear that every once in a while a stupid lawsuit is dismissed.

Too late, the damage has already been done. I've seen several iKnockoff Knights cite this ridiculous lawsuit as proof Apple is spying on us, which in turn causes more idiots to believe it. Meanwhile they use ANDROID.....

You talk as if you know what Apple is doing behind the scenes. For all you know they are in bed with the government, like every other company.

MplsP · May 11, 2019 10:40PM

lkrupp said:

AppleInsider said:

The court likewise rejected claims of negligence -- since Williams didn't indicate duty of care or how it was breached -- along with charges of fraud and breaching warranty, as he didn't reference any specific promises by Apple.

So he threw some shit at the wall to see if any of it would stick? Did he ever prove his confidential conversations were actually eavesdropped upon as he claimed?

Yes, I think that is exactly what this was - an opportunistic lawsuit.

The plaintiffs in suits like this should be made to pay legal fees so there's at least some disincentive to filing frivolous lawsuits.

zoetmb · May 12, 2019 12:54AM

jdw said:

The greatest article of the century, if not the millennium would be named thusly:

Every lawsuit everywhere across the globe was DISMISSED!

It's time to turn the other cheek and realize life can indeed go on without litigation.

No Suing. It does a Human good.

Do I think there are too many lawsuits (especially in the U.S.) and an enormous number of incredibly trivial and stupid ones? Of course. But there are many quite valid lawsuits and without the threat of lawsuits, companies will run havoc endangering our health, the environment and our wallets.

LordeHawk · May 12, 2019 12:58AM

Johan42 said:

AppleExposed said:

ihatescreennames said:

It’s nice to hear that every once in a while a stupid lawsuit is dismissed.

Too late, the damage has already been done. I've seen several iKnockoff Knights cite this ridiculous lawsuit as proof Apple is spying on us, which in turn causes more idiots to believe it. Meanwhile they use ANDROID.....

You talk as if you know what Apple is doing behind the scenes. For all you know they are in bed with the government, like every other company.

Except for the whole end to end encryption thing. Apple knows if they can get in, the government will want in too.

Thanks for your attempt at fear mongering...

jdw · May 12, 2019 5:59AM

zoetmb said:
Do I think there are too many lawsuits (especially in the U.S.) and an enormous number of incredibly trivial and stupid ones? Of course. But there are many quite valid lawsuits and without the threat of lawsuits, companies will run havoc endangering our health, the environment and our wallets.

The only thing the above sentiment says in the end is this: "we need to maintain the status quo of things." But it is my contention that to truly change the status quo, you need a major change. I say we ought to live without lawsuits for a while, then slowly phase them back in. Really. We need to push the RESET button on a lot of things. I wish we could do that with most laws we have. Then we would need to slowly rebuild everything from scratch. And during that rebuilding process freedom could reign supreme. And yes, there would be a fair amount of lawlessness too. But that is the point of a RESET. You take the good with the bad.

larryjw · May 12, 2019 10:05AM

ericthehalfbee said:

This guy must not be a very good lawyer to have a case dismissed because of procedural issues.

As further proof, the lawyer didn’t take reasonable precautions to protect his work product.

There is this old ethics case where a lawyer met with his client and witnesses at a restaurant to discuss the case at hand. The contents of this meeting was overheard by other restaurant patrons and that information got back to members of opposing side.

It is unreasonable for anyone, including attorneys, to use technologies without ensuring confidences are protected. New technologies should be assumed to be unreliable. Use of VPN is required, no or little use of social media is required, and you’re crazy to use Google or Facebook apps, or take phone calls in public places.

Johan42 · May 12, 2019 4:40PM

LordeHawk said:

Johan42 said:

AppleExposed said:

ihatescreennames said:

It’s nice to hear that every once in a while a stupid lawsuit is dismissed.

Too late, the damage has already been done. I've seen several iKnockoff Knights cite this ridiculous lawsuit as proof Apple is spying on us, which in turn causes more idiots to believe it. Meanwhile they use ANDROID.....

You talk as if you know what Apple is doing behind the scenes. For all you know they are in bed with the government, like every other company.

Except for the whole end to end encryption thing. Apple knows if they can get in, the government will want in too.

Thanks for your attempt at fear mongering...

Couldn’t care less to inflict “fear” into anybody. Thanks for the worthless reply.

nicholfd · May 13, 2019 2:01PM

Johan42 said:

You talk as if you know what Apple is doing behind the scenes. For all you know they are in bed with the government, like every other company.

Here is what Apple says they are doing:
https://www.apple.com/privacy/approach-to-privacy/
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202303

You can choose to believe them or not.

Group FaceTime iOS 12.1 eavesdropping bug lawsuit is dismissed

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