If Apple is found to be in fault at the August meeting of the Korea Communications Commission, Apple may face hefty fines or even a business suspension.

The reports came after officials from the commission and the Korea Internet Security Agency visited Apple’s U.S. headquarters earlier this month to look into whether Apple had violated any laws.

“A decision will be out when we meet for a general assembly next month,” a KCC official told the press on the condition of anonymity. 

A class action suit is pending against Apple here, with more than 16,000 people iPhone users signing on via a website set up by a lawyer at Miraero law firm who on Thursday pledged to lead the campaign. 

Just weeks before, the lawyer won a ruling from the Changwon District Court, which ordered Apple to pay him 1 million won ($925) for mismanaging the information it gathered through its tracking services.

KCC Chairman Choi See-joong earlier had hinted Apple may have violated local laws by tracking information even when the tracking switch was flipped off. Apple claimed that was due to a software bug.

So far, other investigations into Apple and Google, which has similar functions for Android-operated smartphones, showed that the firms did not “intentionally” collect user information.

Earlier this year, computer expert Alasdair Allan revealed that iPhone keeps track of where one goes and saves every detail of it in a secret file on the device, which is then copied to the owner’s computer when the two are synchronized. The data is collected regardless of whether or not users agree and is stored for up to a year, he claimed.
There are about 3 million Koreans who use iPhones.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)