Apple Incorporate, the American technology giant and maker of the famous Apple phones and watches, is facing a £ 3 billion in the United Kingdom for allegedly locking up 40 million (40,000,000) UK citizens in its cloud service.
UK’s Consumer group is claiming that Apple “effectively locks 40m British customers into its iCloud services with rip-off prices.”
The British Broadcasting Network said the case, if successful, could result in payouts of up to £70 per customer.
The group claims that Apple deliberately offers customers a limited amount of free storage on its products to coerce them into paying exorbitant prices for more storage on its cloud service to back up their photos, videos, contacts and other data.
The cost of iCloud storage in the UK ranges from £0.99 pence per for 50GB and £54.55 per month for 12 terabytes.
It UK Consumer Group also argues that Apple restricts access to competing cloud storage services, while citing security as a reason but maintains that this effectively locks users into iCloud and generates huge revenues for Apple.
Meanwhile, Apple has denied the allegations, maintaining that iCloud is an option service offered to its customers while maintaining that many customers also choose third-party services.
