Alphabet Inc.’s Google subsidiary has temporarily settled charges of misuse of user data, … [+]
Alphabet Inc.’s Google subsidiary has temporarily settled charges that it misappropriated user data, avoiding a potentially revealing trial. The lawsuit initially sought $5 billion in damages, but terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The news was first reported by Reuters.
According to court documents, the search giant agreed to respond to allegations that, despite promises of privacy, it tracked the Internet activity of users browsing in what they thought was a secret mode. Consumers claimed they were being tracked by Google even when using Chrome’s supposedly hidden “Incognito” mode, raising alarms about the sanctity of online privacy. The company tried to get the court to throw the case away several timesbut failed.
The settlement, announced ahead of a Feb. 5, 2024, trial date, halts the progress of a class-action lawsuit that sought damages of at least $5 billion. The terms of the settlement, negotiated through a private mediation process, are not yet public, but will be revealed when submitted for court approval by the end of February 2024.
Although plaintiffs’ lawyers and Google declined to comment on the settlement, the crux of the legal challenge has put Google’s transparency under scrutiny.
The case hinged on the assumption that Google’s analytics and ad targeting mechanisms continued to siphon personal data regardless of users’ privacy settings, converting virtually anonymous browsers into valuable data points.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ August 2023 ruling against Google’s request to dismiss the case highlighted the perplexity of consent and disclosure when it comes to digital privacy. Rogers highlighted potentially misleading assurances given by Google to its users regarding data collection in privacy mode.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2020, represented users nationwide since June 2016 and called for punitive damages based on alleged violations of federal wiretapping and California privacy laws.
With digital privacy issues at the forefront of consumer protection debates, the Brown et al v. Google LLC et al. illustrates the growing discord between user expectations and the realities of online data management by industry leaders.
The docket number for the lawsuit is 20-03664 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
