Google, part of Alphabet, has decided to resolve a lawsuit that accused it of secretly monitoring the online activities of millions of users who believed their browsing was private.
The scheduled trial for February 5, 2024, in the proposed class action, was put on hold by the U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, following an announcement that Google and consumer lawyers reached a preliminary settlement. Moreover, Recently, Epic Games took legal action against Google, and the outcome of the case is different from their dispute with Apple. A jury has decided that Google violated US antitrust laws in managing the Play Store.
Google Faces $5 Billion Lawsuit
The legal case aimed for a minimum of $5 billion in damages. Although the details of the settlement were not revealed, the lawyers mentioned that they have accepted a binding term sheet through mediation. They plan to submit a formal settlement for court approval by February 24, 2024. There hasn’t been an immediate response from either Google or the lawyers representing the consumers regarding requests for comments.
The people suing claimed that Google’s analytics, cookies, and apps allowed the Alphabet division to monitor their actions, even when they used Google’s Chrome browser in “Incognito” mode or other browsers in “private” browsing mode. They argued that this turned Google into a secretive repository of information, enabling the company to discover details about their friends, interests, preferred foods, shopping behaviors, and potentially embarrassing online searches.
In August, Judge Rogers denied Google’s attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed. She expressed uncertainty about whether Google had made a legally enforceable commitment not to gather users’ data during private browsing. The judge referred to Google’s privacy policy and other statements from the company that hinted at restrictions on the information it could collect.
Initiated in 2020, the legal action involved “millions” of Google users from June 1, 2016, onward. It aimed to secure a minimum of $5,000 in damages per user for alleged breaches of federal wiretapping and California privacy laws. The case is identified as Brown et al v Google LLC et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 20-03664.
Conclusion
Google, facing a $5 billion lawsuit over alleged secret user tracking, has paused the scheduled trial for February 5, 2024. A preliminary settlement, yet to reveal specifics, was reached through mediation, involving a binding term sheet. The formal settlement for court approval is anticipated by February 24, 2024.
