Apple and several iPhone and iPad application developers are being sued in federal court for sharing usage information from the devices without the customer’s consent or knowledge.

[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]The complaint, filed in San Jose, Calif. on December 23 accuses developers of using the device’s Unique Device Identifier (UDID) to track user’s habits, according to a report on Bloomberg. Advertisers are reportedly able to track what apps are downloaded, how often they are used and the length of time they are used.

The suit names Pandora, Paper Toss, the Weather Channel and Dictionary.com as defendants in the case, along with Apple.

The lawsuit claims the practice of transmitting user’s information is a violation of federal computer fraud and privacy laws.

There is no way to know how many people may be affected by the apps mentioned in the lawsuit, but it is seeking class-action status.

In its fiscal fourth quarter, Apple reported selling 14.1 million iPhones and 4.19 million iPads.