Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
Google has been sued in the past and is being sued in the future. The last time, within the USA, this time within the UK. The accusation is for collecting personal data of millions within the UK and is the first of its kind of massive legal action. Within the USA, this kind of case is yet to be tested.
People feel that their privacy is invaded when it harvests information by settings on iPhones, through use of cookies which collect information on devices to target advertising that will be received by users. Apparently, this has been a trend in place since 2011 for persons that choose to implement Safari on their devices.
On what basis will people sue? The abuse of trust is what people feel most strongly about. A strong message from the people is being made in asserting that individuals values their rights above any abuse received due to technology giants in the Silicon Valley. Abuse occurs when rights are violated by a breach of privacy. Procedural and jurisdictional violations have been made by non-disclosure and this sets up a basis for grounds of the suit. Google plans to still contest on the grounds of no basis. Some law firms have taken up a similar claim within the USA. While no precedent has been set in the UK, there has been grounds in the USA. Google agreed to pay a record $22.5m in a case brought by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the same issue in 2012.
The record of large civil penalties to settle Federal Trade Commission charges alleged misrepresentation to users of Apple Inc.’s Safari Internet browser that it would not place tracking “cookies” or serve targeted ads to those users, violating an earlier privacy settlement between the company and the FTC. The FTC wanted to ensure that it lived up to the privacy it offered consumers. The order that was made required Google to disable all tracking cookies and pay a civil penalty. Continue reading ›