the class members and the plaintiffs' attorney fees, but admitted no fault. [ 39 ] [ 41 ] In 2006 Apple Canada, Inc., also settled several similar Canadian class action suits alleging misrepresentations by Apple regarding iPod battery life. [ 42 ] In December 2010, two separate groups of iPhone and iPad users sued Apple, alleging that certain software applications were passing personal user information to third-party advertisers without the users' consent. [ 43 ] The individual cases were consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California , San Jose division, under the title In Re iPhone Application Litigaton , and further defendants were added to the action. [ 44 ] The complainants petitioned the court for a ban on the "passing of user information without consent and monetary compensation," [ 43 ] claimed damages for breach of privacy, and sought redress for other enumerated claims. [ 45 ] Press reports stated that in April 2011, Apple agreed to amend its developer agreement to stop this from happening "except for information directly necessary for the functionality of the apps"; however, the suit alleged that Apple took no steps to do this or enforce it "in any meaningful way due to criticism from advertising networks". [ 43 ] The Associated Press reported a pending congressional inquiry into the matter, with United States Congress members stating that commercial storage and usage of location information without a consumer's express consent is illegal under current law, but Apple defended its