Key Takeaways
1. A federal jury found Google responsible for two out of three claims regarding user privacy in a lawsuit that started in 2020.
2. The lawsuit accused Google of unlawfully collecting data from mobile devices over eight years, contradicting their privacy assurances.
3. Plaintiffs claimed Google continued to gather information even when users opted out of data collection through privacy settings.
4. The jury ordered Google to pay $425 million in damages, significantly less than the $31 billion initially sought by the plaintiffs.
5. Google plans to appeal the ruling, arguing that their privacy tools give users control over their data and that the verdict misinterprets their practices.
A federal jury has determined that Google is responsible for two out of three claims regarding user privacy in a lawsuit that has been ongoing since 2020. This trial occurred in a federal courtroom located in San Francisco, USA, and it accused Google of unlawfully accessing mobile devices to gather data over a span of eight years.
Privacy Assurances in Question
The allegations directly contradicted the privacy guarantees that Google provided through their web and activity settings. The plaintiffs claimed that Google kept collecting their information even when users opted out of data collection.
As reported by Reuters, Google defended itself by stating that the data was “nonpersonal, pseudonymous, and stored in segregated, secured, and encrypted locations.” The company emphasized that the information gathered was not tied to any specific user accounts.
Case Background
The lawsuit was originally filed by Anibal Rodriguez, who expressed that Google continued to gather data despite the assurance that users could opt out via the privacy settings in the “Web and App Activity” area.
According to Courthouse News Service, the plaintiffs’ legal team contended that Google never obtained consent to collect and retain data even when users turned off the web activity settings. They accused the tech giant of misleading users by claiming they had the ability to manage, view, and erase the data collected from their activities.
Damages and Appeal
The jury has mandated that Google pay $425 million in damages to resolve the lawsuit, while the plaintiffs had initially aimed for $31 billion.
A spokesperson for Google, Jose Castaneda, informed Reuters that the company plans to appeal the ruling, asserting that the verdict “misunderstands” how their products “work.”
“Our privacy tools allow people to have control over their data, and when they choose to turn off personalization, we respect that decision,” Castaneda remarked.
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