Google agrees to settle $5bn consumer privacy lawsuit
Google has agreed to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit seeking at least $5 billion in damages over allegations it tracked users’ data who thought they were browsing privately.
In a court filing, the judge confirmed that lawyers for Google reached a preliminary agreement to settle the class action lawsuit – originally filed in 2020 – which claimed that “millions of individuals” had likely been affected.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs were seeking at least $5,000 for each user it said had been tracked by the firm as they visited Google Analytics or Ad Manager in “private browsing mode” while not logged into their Google account.
This would have amounted to at least $5 billion.
Google and lawyers for the consumers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit, filed in a California court, claimed Google’s practices had infringed on users’ privacy by “intentionally” deceiving them.
The original complaint alleged that Google and its employees had been given the “power to learn intimate details about individuals’ lives, interests, and internet usage.”
“Google has made itself an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it,” it added.
No figure was given for the preliminary settlement between the parties.
A formal settlement is expected for court approval by February 24, 2024.
PUNCH Online reported in 2018 that European consumer groups on criticised Google for breaching personal data protection rules, citing how the location of smartphone users was continuously tracked.
Meanwhile, in a separate report earlier, our correspondent reported in 2017 that consumer activists launched a lawsuit accusing Google of illegally collecting data on more than five million British iPhone users, who could possibly see a payout reaching into the hundreds of millions.
A campaign group dubbed ‘Google You Owe us’ says the tech giant owes consumers “trust, fairness and money” after unlawfully placing cookies on mobile phones between 2011 and 2012.
In 2022, PUNCH Online also reported that Google had agreed to settle a landmark privacy case with 40 US states over accusations that the search engine giant misled users into believing location tracking had been switched off on their devices.
A statement said it was the largest multi-state privacy settlement by state authorities in US history and included a binding commitment for improved disclosures by Google, this was according to AFP.
