A $5 billion consumer privacy lawsuit is settled by Google
Google has agreed to a preliminary settlement in a class-action lawsuit that accused the tech giant of secretly tracking the internet activities of millions of users who believed their browsing was private.
Google has agreed to a preliminary settlement in a class-action lawsuit that accused the tech giant of secretly tracking the internet activities of millions of users who believed their browsing was private. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, has put the scheduled trial, slated for February 5, 2024, on hold after lawyers for both Google and the consumers involved in the lawsuit indicated that a preliminary settlement had been reached.
While the terms of the settlement remain undisclosed, the lawsuit initially sought a minimum of $5 billion in damages. The lawyers revealed that a binding term sheet has been agreed upon through mediation, and they anticipate presenting a formal settlement for court approval by February 24, 2024.
The plaintiffs claimed that Google's analytics, cookies, and apps enabled the company to track their online activities, even when using Google's Chrome browser in "Incognito" mode or other browsers in "private" browsing mode. The lawsuit alleged that Google, through these practices, transformed itself into an "unaccountable trove of information," gaining insights into users' friends, hobbies, preferences, shopping habits, and potentially sensitive online searches.
In August, Judge Gonzalez Rogers rejected Google's attempt to dismiss the lawsuit, highlighting that it remained uncertain whether Google had made a legally binding promise not to collect user data during private browsing. The judge referenced Google's privacy policy and the company's statements that suggested limitations on the information it might collect.
Initiated in 2020, the lawsuit covered millions of Google users since June 1, 2016, seeking damages of at least $5,000 per user for alleged violations of federal wire-tapping and California privacy laws. The case, known as Brown et al v Google LLC et al, will now await the formal approval of the settlement agreement. Google and the plaintiff consumers have not yet provided comments on the recent developments.
