Google faces court over alleged violation of privacy of mobile phone data
A federal judge in the US has ruled that Google must defend a class action lawsuit over alleged privacy violations in collecting data from mobile phone users.
The lawsuit revolves around allegations that Google continued to collect personal data even after users opted out of tracking through the Web and app activity settings. Judge Richard Seeborg, presiding over the case in San Francisco, rejected Google’s arguments that privacy notices were sufficient and that users had given consent.
Seeborg highlighted internal company communications suggesting that Google intentionally covered up its data collection practices. He indicated that a jury could reasonably find Google’s conduct “highly objectionable”. The judge also pointed to evidence that Google employees were aware of users’ concerns about the ambiguity of privacy statements.
The lawsuit accuses Google of intercepting and storing personal browser histories without consent, possibly in violation of California law prohibiting unauthorised computer access.
“Privacy controls have long been built into our service and the allegations here are a deliberate attempt to mischaracterise the way our products work. We will continue to make our case in court against these patently false claims,” Google said in a statement.
This is not the first time Google has faced legal challenges over user privacy. Last August, a federal appeals court revived a lawsuit alleging that Google was tracking Chrome users who had opted out of browser synchronisation. Four months earlier, Google agreed to delete billions of records as part of a settlement in a class action lawsuit over tracking users in ‘incognito mode’. The same firms that represented the plaintiffs in those cases are also involved in the current lawsuit.
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