Because of undeleted messages from prostitutes: Briton sues Apple
Curious case from England: A businessman is taking legal action against the iPhone manufacturer for allegedly costing him his relationship with his wife.
iCloud error page: In this case, however, a deleted message could still be found.
(Image: Apple)
A curious case in the UK: a British man wants to sue Apple because the iPhone manufacturer is allegedly responsible for his wife filing for divorce. The British man, who only goes by the pseudonym "Richard" in the local media, is said to have cheated on his wife with prostitutes. This came to light because he had used Apple's iMessage service for appointments - and did not know that deletions only apply to the current device.
It's about 5 million pounds
The unfaithful husband was caught because his wife came across such messages on the family iMac. "After arranging the meetings [via iMessage on his iPhone], he deleted the messages because he believed it would cover the tracks of his infidelity," writes the Times of London, which reported on the case last week.
However, after his wife opened iMessage on the iMac, she found the last message to a prostitute – and after a bit of searching, apparently even all the communication with these women over several years. She filed for divorce within a month. It was costly for "Richard": the middle-aged businessman, who also had children with his ex-wife, had to pay around 5 million British pounds as part of the divorce – not including legal fees.
Brutal iMessage truth
The unfaithful husband now wants the money – and possibly compensation – from Apple. In his opinion, the company does not make it clear enough to customers that iMessage messages sent to another iPhone user also appear on other connected Apple devices, even if they are deleted from the phone. "It's all very painful and raw. It was very brutal for my wife to find out." According to "Richard", he would otherwise have been able to talk to her "and we might still be married".
"Richard" now wants to take legal action against Apple and has commissioned a London law firm to do so. The firm is thinking big and wants to turn the case into a class action lawsuit. "If there are only a few hundred people in the UK who have had to make similar divorce payments, that would already be a billion-dollar loss and it might even be a global problem," says "Richard". According to his lawyers, the iPhone only informs users that messages have been deleted, but does not say that this is not the case on other devices.
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