A SHENZHEN man has taken a local electronics retailer to court, demanding 26,636 yuan (US$4,366) for a refund and compensation for not informing him of alleged potential security hazards before he bought Apple’s iPhone 4S from the company.

    The man, surnamed Xu, bought the phone for 5,127 yuan from the company, a retailer of Apple products, on Feb. 5 2012, according to yesterday’s report by Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.

    However, recent media reports about Apple’s ability to acquire private information from its smartphone users and of a cyber attack on its iCloud storage system in the United States shocked Xu. He believes the retailer knew about these “hazards” before selling him the phone and intentionally didn’t let him know.

    Xu took the retailer to Futian District People’s Court and asked for 26,636 yuan, the paper said.

    The retailer’s lawyer said during Monday’s court hearing that media reports can’t be used as proof of potential security hazards of Apple’s smartphones.

    Proof has to be provided by authoritative testing institutions under Chinese law. In addition, the relevant media reports came out last year, but the phone was purchased in 2012, so the retailer couldn’t have known, according to the lawyer.

    Both parties rejected mediation. A court verdict is pending.

    (Martin Li)