Plaintiffs Don’t Get Second Bite At Apple In Proposed B.C. Privacy Class Action

Last week in Ladas v. Apple Inc., the British Columbia Supreme Court refused to certify a class proceeding against Apple Inc. in relation to alleged breaches of privacy involving the Location Services aspect of Apple's iOS4 operating system.

This decision indicates that British Columbia's courts remain willing to decline certification of proposed class proceedings where the claims are overly broad or improperly framed. This decision stands in contrast to Hopkins v. Kay, Condon v. Canada, and Evans v. The Bank of Nova Scotia, in which the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and Federal Court have recently certified privacy class actions. It also gives defendants some comfort that self-serving expert evidence on the merits of the action that is put forward by plaintiffs at certification will not be accepted without scrutiny.