Delta Air Lines is the first company to be taken to court by California’s Attorney General for failing to meet privacy requirements, due to not having a clear policy in place in its Fly Delta app.

The airline had been given 30 days to write a privacy policy for the app but failed to do so, leading Kamala Harris, the state’s Attorney General, to file the action.

The suit requests an immediate change to the app and financial damages of up to US$2,500 for each “violation”.

The Fly Delta app collected user information such as addresses, telephone and email contact details, frequent flyer numbers, and in some cases location data.

“California law is clear that mobile apps collecting personal information need privacy policies, and that the users of those apps deserve to know what is being done with their personal information,” Harris said.

In October, Harris informed around 100 app developer and companies that they were not in compliance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act.

The letters requested the recipients to “conspicuously” post a privacy policy within apps.