Google Resolves $5B Consumer Privacy Lawsuit

Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) has agreed to settle a lawsuit declaring that it secretly tracked the Internet activity of millions of consumers who believed they were surfing discreetly have been.

Explore the details as Google Resolves $5B Consumer Privacy Lawsuit, navigating the complexities of online privacy concerns.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers in Oakland, California, postponed a proposed class action trial scheduled for February 5, 2024, after lawyers for Google and consumers announced a preliminary deal.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers were demanding at least $5,000 for each person who was believed to have been watched by the firm because they utilized Google Analytics in “private browsing mode” while not logging into their Google account or visiting Ad Manager.

This would have cost at least $5 billion.

The terms of the settlement were not released, but the lawyers stated that they had agreed to a binding term sheet through settlement and anticipated filing a formal settlement for court approval by February 24, 2024.

Requests for comment were not immediately answered by the tech giant or the plaintiff customers’ lawyers.

The complaint, which was submitted to a court in California, stated that Google’s actions offended consumers’ privacy by “deliberately” misleading them.

The plaintiffs claim that Google’s analytics, cookies, and apps enable Alphabet to watch their activities even when they use Google’s Chrome browser in “incognito” mode and other browsers in “private” mode.

They claimed that by enabling the company to learn about their friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and “possibly humiliating things” they search for online, he turned Google into an “untouchable stash of data”.

“Google has made itself an unapproachable store of data so definite and extensive that George Orwell would never have imagined it,” it went on to say.

Rogers denied Google’s request to dismiss the complaint in August.

It’s debatable whether Google issued a legally binding commitment not to collect user data when surfing in private mode, he said.

The judge referenced Google’s privacy statement as well as previous corporate statements that indicated what kinds of data the corporation would be able to gather.

The complaint, filed in 2020, involves “millions” of Google users since June 1, 2016, and wants at least $5,000 in damages per person for federal spying and violations of California privacy laws.

The initial settlement amount between the parties was not disclosed.

By February 24, 2024, a formal settlement is predicted for court approval.

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