Apple Hit with Class Action Over Alleged Technical Issues Experienced by @me.com Apple ID Users

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Apple and AppleCare Service face a proposed class action that alleges @me.com Apple ID users are exposed to a greater risk of bugs, glitches, privacy risks and data security vulnerabilities than users with other user IDs, such as @icloud.com.

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The 25-page lawsuit was filed by two Illinois consumers who claim the technology company never informed them that their Apple products would experience technical issues as a result of their @me.com Apple ID, an older type of user ID. The case further charges that Apple failed to reasonably investigate the plaintiffs’ technical issues relating to the functionality, data privacy, data security and device integrity of their iPhones, iPads, Macs, MacBooks, Apple Watches and AirPods, which began in February 2021 and remained unaddressed for several months.

“Since February 2021, Plaintiffs have spent hundreds of hours of their time informing Defendants or their agents of the technical issues, the lack of meaningful support and the lack of resolution of the technical issues raised by Plaintiffs,” the complaint states, adding that the technical issues have rendered their Apple products and services “unfit, potentially unsafe and effectively unusable.”

According to the filing, Apple repeatedly ignored, questioned and discounted issues raised by the plaintiffs. For example, the company’s agents told the plaintiffs that the problems they were experiencing “could not” happen because they were “impossible,” the suit says. Another agent instructed the plaintiffs to wait for Apple to issue a security update that could possibly fix the issues, signifying that they would not be repairing the faulty devices, the case relays.

The filing says that in May and July 2021, the plaintiffs notified Apple’s legal department of their technical issues and the “abusive” service tactics they had been subjected to. In its July 12 response, Apple falsely stated that it had “performed an investigation” that “demonstrated Apple provided the appropriate level of support,” the suit contends. As the plaintiffs continued to advocate for themselves, they once again experienced a “cycle of customer abuse” from members of a purported “executive team,” the case says.

Finally, in September 2021, Apple acknowledged the plaintiffs’ technical issues after consulting with senior specialists, who confirmed that the root cause of the issues was likely the plaintiffs’ status as @me.com users, the case says. Per the complaint, “Apple has to treat those @me.com Apple ID accounts differently than they treat other Apple ID accounts that were created later in time with different user IDs, like @icloud.com.”

Although Apple claims that “[a]ll security issues with significant impact to users will be considered for Apple Security Bounty payment”—a program through which Apple provides cash rewards for reporting security or vulnerability issues—the company did not consider paying the plaintiffs any bounty after their products were replaced or repaired in the spring of 2022, the suit contends. The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs would have been paid had Apple adhered to its own program, given that the company used critical information provided by the plaintiffs to roll out software updates that corrected the technical issues.

The lawsuit looks to cover any Illinois residents with an @me.com Apple ID that have received services, software or operating system updates to an Apple device or product from 2000 through the present.

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