Google Settles $5 Billion Privacy Lawsuit Over Alleged Secret Tracking
Written by Sanjay Kumar
News Highlights
- Google reaches a preliminary settlement in a privacy lawsuit alleging secret tracking of millions of users.
- S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers pauses the February 5, 2024 trial following a preliminary settlement agreement.
- Lawsuit accuses Google of tracking users even in “Incognito” mode, revealing personal details and habits.
Alphabet’s tech giant Google has reached a preliminary settlement in a privacy lawsuit, agreeing to pay an undisclosed amount to resolve allegations that it covertly monitored the online activities of millions of users who believed their browsing sessions were private. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, has temporarily halted the scheduled trial, originally set for February 5, 2024, after both parties informed the court about the settlement.
The lawsuit, a proposed class action, sought a minimum of $5 billion in damages. While the specific terms of the settlement remain confidential, attorneys for both Google and the complainant consumers have confirmed that a binding term sheet has been established through mediation. They anticipate presenting a formal settlement for court approval no later than February 24, 2024. As of now, there has been no immediate response from either Google or the legal representatives of the complaining consumers.
The complainants argued that Google’s tracking mechanisms, including analytics, cookies, and apps, allowed the company to monitor their online behavior even when using the “Incognito” mode on Google’s Chrome browser or other browsers set to “private” mode. This alleged tracking transformed Google into what the complainants described as an “unaccountable trove of information,” enabling the company to acquire details about their social connections, interests, food preferences, shopping patterns, and potentially sensitive online searches.
In a notable decision in August, Judge Gonzalez Rogers dismissed Google’s attempt to have the lawsuit thrown out. She raised questions about whether Google had made a legally binding commitment not to collect user data during private browsing sessions, referencing Google’s privacy policy and other public statements that indicated certain limitations on data collection.
The lawsuit, filed in 2020, applied to “millions” of Google users from June 1, 2016, onward, seeking a minimum of $5,000 in damages per user for alleged violations of federal wiretapping laws and California privacy statutes. The case is officially identified as Brown et al v Google LLC et al, and it is being heard in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, under case number 20-03664.
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