Google's privacy practices under fire again as class action moves forward
Google, or more specifically, its parent company Alphabet, is no stranger to lawsuits, especially those involving accusations of monopolistic practices in search and advertising or privacy violations. Now, it seems the tech giant is facing yet another class action related to mobile phone privacy.
A recent report reveals that Google has lost its final attempt to avoid a major privacy class action. The lawsuit alleges that the company continued to collect personal data from users' phones even after they turned off a setting to prevent tracking. This sets the stage for a potential trial in August.
Chief Judge Richard Seeborg of the federal court in San Francisco has ruled that Google will have to face a federal jury. The judge rejected the company's defense, which argued that users are aware that disabling the tracking switch doesn't stop all data collection and that "Google's basic record-keeping practices harms no one."
Seeborg, writing for the US District Court for the Northern District of California, stated that while Google provides users with long and detailed privacy policy disclosures, it doesn't mean they have consented to the tracking.
He highlighted internal discussions at Google indicating the company purposely kept things fuzzy about the difference between data gathered inside a Google account and outside of it, fearing the full story might unsettle users.
In response, Google spokesperson José Castañeda dismissed the claims in the lawsuit as "patently false."
Android and non-Android mobile users have accused Google of privacy violations and breaching a California law against unauthorized, fraudulent computer access. The lawsuit, filed in 2020, alleges that despite Google's assurances that turning off the "Web App & Activity" feature would stop data collection, the company continued intercepting and saving users' personal browsing histories without their consent.
How this all plays out will become clearer later this year, so stay tuned for updates. However, history shows that privacy violation cases are often taken seriously, and Google may not be able to dodge this one. Just recently, for instance, Apple agreed to pay $95 million to settle a five-year-old lawsuit that accused the company of using its digital assistant, Siri, to spy on customers using iPhones and other Apple devices. Apple, however, maintains that Siri data was never sold.
A recent report reveals that Google has lost its final attempt to avoid a major privacy class action. The lawsuit alleges that the company continued to collect personal data from users' phones even after they turned off a setting to prevent tracking. This sets the stage for a potential trial in August.
Seeborg, writing for the US District Court for the Northern District of California, stated that while Google provides users with long and detailed privacy policy disclosures, it doesn't mean they have consented to the tracking.
From the perspective of a reasonable user, it is unclear Plaintiffs were consenting to the data collection at issue.
– Chief Judge Richard Seeborg, January 2025
In response, Google spokesperson José Castañeda dismissed the claims in the lawsuit as "patently false."
Privacy controls have long been built into our service and the allegations here are a deliberate attempt to mischaracterize the way our products work. We will continue to make our case in court against these patently false claims.
– Google, January 2025
Android and non-Android mobile users have accused Google of privacy violations and breaching a California law against unauthorized, fraudulent computer access. The lawsuit, filed in 2020, alleges that despite Google's assurances that turning off the "Web App & Activity" feature would stop data collection, the company continued intercepting and saving users' personal browsing histories without their consent.
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