Apple will have to face a class action lawsuit over antitrust violations related to its iCloud service. A California district judge ruled on Monday that the lawsuit, which claims Apple forces iPhone users to use iCloud for data backups, cannot be sustained. The lawsuit alleges that Apple’s restrictions on third-party cloud services violate antitrust laws by illegally monopolising the market for digital Storage and making consumers overpay for it.
Users can back up photos, videos, and documents to other cloud services, but iCloud remains the only option for backing up data like app settings and device configurations.
Initially, the case was dismissed by the US District Judge Eumi Lee, who said the plaintiffs’ original complaint didn’t have enough detail. However, after the plaintiffs filed a revised version of the complaint earlier this year, Judge Lee denied Apple’s request to dismiss the case.
The plaintiffs argue that Apple has a monopoly on cloud storage for iPhones, with the company dominating both the revenue and the number of users. While third-party services can store some data, the lawsuit claims that Apple’s control over core device backups gives it an unfair advantage in the cloud storage market.
Also read: Apple Watch Ultra 3 may arrive this year with major upgrades: Here’s what we know
In its request to dismiss, Apple stated that limiting third-party access to sensitive device data is necessary for security and privacy reasons. “That design decision was and always has been a feature grounded in security and privacy considerations,” the company wrote, emphasising the importance of protecting data when restoring an Apple device.
With this ruling, the case will continue, and Apple will have to explain why it restricts full device backups to its own cloud service. If the plaintiffs win, it could open up the cloud storage market to more competition for iPhone users.