British consumer organisation Which? on Thursday announced a £3 billion (€3.6 billion) lawsuit against Apple, accusing it of locking millions of consumers into its iCloud data storage service "at exorbitant prices."
According to the organisation, some 40 million customers of the Californian technology giant who have benefited from iCloud services over the past nine years in the UK could be entitled to compensation, resulting in damages estimated in the billions.
The case, filed with the Competition Appeal Tribunal, claims that the company has given its storage service preferential treatment on its devices, amounting to ‘entrapment’ of its customers, according to a Which? statement.
In particular, Apple does not allow its customers to store or back up all the data on their phone with a third-party provider. They have to "pay for the service" once they have exceeded the "free 5GB limit," says the association, which also condemns the "excessive" prices charged.
Which? is seeking redress for all customers affected since 1 October 2015, estimating that they could be awarded an average of £70 each.
Apple notes, however, that its users are not obligated to use iCloud. "Many rely on a wide range of third-party alternatives for data storage," the tech giant told French news agency AFP, saying that it was “working hard to make data transfer as simple as possible.”
‘We reject any suggestion that our iCloud practices are anti-competitive and we will vigorously defend ourselves against any legal proceedings to the contrary," the company added.
Apple has been fined in recent years in several countries, including France, Spain, Italy and Russia, for abuse of a dominant position.
In September, an EU court also ruled in favour of the European Commission against Apple in a long-running legal case.
It ruled that the company should pay back €13 billion in tax arrears to Ireland for having benefited from undue tax advantages, deemed to be illegal state aid.
In general, tech giants are under fire from regulators and courts around the world, particularly in Europe and the United States, for unfair competition and data protection.
