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Apple lambasted by judge for not turning over documents in privacy case

Apple lambasted by judge for not turning over documents in privacy case

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apple iphone logo stock 1020

Apple may be facing penalties in an ongoing privacy case after a failure to produce documents in a timely fashion. Bloomberg reports that Judge Paul S. Grewal had strong words for the company's legal team today. The privacy case, in which Apple is accused of collecting data from its customers even when their geo-location services were turned off, has seen Apple reprimanded a number of times for not providing emails and documents that Grewal said "absolutely should've been collected and they were not."

Grewal got involved in forcing Apple's hand on March 6th, when he ordered the company to explain how it had collected documents it had turned over to attorneys for the other side. Unhappy with what the company had given at that point, he asked for specifics on search terms, dates of searches, and how the company determined which individuals to target. Since then Apple has turned over almost double the documents it originally produced.

Double the documents since the court intervened

Apple tried to have the case dismissed earlier this month, but the bid was rejected by Judge Lucy Koh — who is handling the case in conjunction with Judge Grewal — on March 7th. At that time, Koh expressed dismay that Apple was seeking to have the case dismissed based on emails and evidence it hadn't yet disclosed to attorneys for the other side.

During today's hearing, Grewal encouraged the attorneys for the plaintiffs to pursue sanctions against Apple for its behavior. For its part, Apple finished filing the remainder of its outstanding documents last night. According to Bloomberg, Apple attorney Ashlie Beringer said the company had undergone "Herculean efforts" since Grewal's March 6th mandate, and that it had now completed its document production.