Google Resolves $5 Billion Consumer Privacy Lawsuit
The plaintiffs claimed that Google’s analytics, cookies, and apps enabled the Alphabet unit to monitor their activities, even when they had set Google’s Chrome browser to “Incognito” mode.
Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) has agreed to settle a lawsuit claiming it secretly tracked the internet use of millions of people who thought they were doing their browsing privately.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, put a scheduled Feb. 5, 2024 trial in the proposed class action on hold on Thursday, after lawyers for Google and for consumers said they had reached a preliminary settlement.
The lawsuit had sought at least $5 billion. Settlement terms were not disclosed, but the lawyers said they have agreed to a binding term sheet through mediation, and expected to present a formal settlement for court approval by Feb. 24, 2024.
Neither Google nor lawyers for the plaintiff consumers immediately responded to requests for comment.
The plaintiffs alleged that Google’s analytics, cookies and apps let the Alphabet unit track their activity even when they set Google’s Chrome browser to “Incognito” mode and other browsers to “private” browsing mode.
They said his turned Google into an “unaccountable trove of information” by letting the company learn about their friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and “potentially embarrassing things” they seek out online.
In August, Rogers rejected Google’s bid to dismiss the lawsuit.
The judge remarked that it remained uncertain whether Google had made a legally binding commitment not to collect user data during private browsing. Citing Google’s privacy policy and company statements implying limitations on data collection, she emphasized the open nature of this question.
Initiated in 2020, the lawsuit encompassed “millions” of Google users from June 1, 2016, onward. It sought a minimum of $5,000 in damages per user, alleging violations of federal wiretapping and California privacy laws.
