Google intercepted, tracked, collected, and sold consumer mobile app browsing history
In the original complaint filed in July 2020, the plaintiffs said that Google "intercepts, tracks, collects and sells consumer mobile app browsing history and activity data regardless of what safeguards or ‘privacy settings’ consumers undertake to protect their privacy.".
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cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov
Plaintiffs alleged, on behalf of a class of an estimated 247.7 million persons residing in the United States, that Google violated its users’ privacy rights by continuously tracking their location and storing that data even after users had switched off the “Location History” feature on their devices.
fortune.com
The company maintained its stance even though the eight-person jury concluded Google had been spying in violation of California privacy laws.
Even though the jury came up with a far lower calculation for the damages, one of the lawyers who brought the case against Google hailed the outcome as a victory for privacy protection.
jolt.law.harvard.edu
In the previous action, which gave rise to the consent order at issue, the FTC alleged Google had misrepresented its privacy policies to Gmail users when it launched its social networking tool, Google Buzz.
business-humanrights.org
federal jury determined on Wednesday that Alphabet's Google must pay $425 million for invading users' privacy by continuing to collect data for millions of users who had switched off a tracking feature in their Google account.
The verdict comes after a trial in the federal court in San Francisco over allegations that Google over an eight-year period accessed users' mobile devices to collect, save, and use their data, violating privacy assurances under its Web & App Activity setting.
cbsnews.com
Even though the jury came up with a far lower calculation for the damages, one of the lawyers who brought the case against Google hailed the outcome as a victory for privacy protection.
cnbc.com
Google has faced other privacy lawsuits, including one earlier this year where it paid nearly $1.4 billion in a settlement with Texas over allegations the company violated the state's privacy laws.
The jury found Google liable on two of the three claims of privacy violations brought by the plaintiffs.
The verdict comes after a trial in the federal court in San Francisco over allegations that Google over an eight-year period accessed users' mobile devices to collect, save, and use their data, violating privacy assurances under its Web & App Activity setting.
kiplinger.com
In the original complaint filed in July 2020, the plaintiffs said that Google "intercepts, tracks, collects and sells consumer mobile app browsing history and activity data regardless of what safeguards or ‘privacy settings’ consumers undertake to protect their privacy."
In September, a federal jury in California found Google liable on two counts of privacy violations for continuing to collect the data of millions of users who had turned off a data-tracking setting in their Google Accounts.
The jury agreed with the plaintiffs that this constituted an invasion of privacy, though it didn't agree that Google violated users' privacy with malice, oppression or fraud — a distinction that would have, potentially, allowed the court to demand "disgorgement" of the profits Google made by collecting that data.
$425 Million Google Class Action Lawsuit: Do You Qualify for a Payout? | Kiplinger
theguardian.com
The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) based its complaint on research by the Forbrukerrådet, the Norwegian consumer agency, which claimed Google used “various tricks” to ensure location history and web and app activity were enabled.