Summary: A British retiree sues Apple after store staff wiped his phone without his permission.
In another David versus Goliath story, a retired man sued technology giant Apple and won.
Deric White, 68, is a retired real estate developer. He sued Apple after staff at a flagship store wiped his phone without his permission last December. The staff erased the only copies of his honeymoon, and White was livid. He had brought his phone in after receiving a text saying there was a problem. He left the phone with staff for 20 minutes, and only after he took his phone home did he realize they deleted all of his data, including the media from his 2014 honeymoon. His wife cried when she learned the pictures and videos were gone forever.
After twelve months of fighting, White was awarded £2,000, which is a little over $3000. White said he had tried to contact Apple before the lawsuit but they were “intransigent” and refused to compensate him.
White had just beaten cancer when he decided to file. His friends warned him that he couldn’t beat a company as big as Apple, but after his battle with the disease, he felt he could take on anything.
“I would not let it go,” White said to The Evening Standard. “Having fought cancer, I was not going to get defeated by Apple.”
White said that it is common practice for Apple to delete information without users’ consent, and he had to fight.
“I did this for the common man. I would say to anybody who has got a gripe with Apple – don’t let them boss you about and ignore you,” White said.
On Monday, Central London County Court awarded White £1,200 compensation and nearly £800 in costs.
White represented himself against Apple’s legal team.
“It’s not so much the money that I have won, but it’s the moral victory,” White said.