US Court rules Google to face lawsuits over alleged unauthorized data collection on Chrome browser
Date
8/22/2024 8:19:01 AM
(MENAFN) A U.S. appeals court has ruled that google Inc. must face legal challenges from users accusing the tech giant of collecting their personal data through its chrome web browser without proper consent. The lawsuits were filed by users who chose not to sync their Chrome browser with their Google accounts, such as Gmail or YouTube, under the belief that this decision would prevent Google from collecting and using certain personal information. This belief was based on the terms and conditions presented by Chrome at the time, which led users to expect a certain level of privacy. The San Francisco Court of Appeals, in a decision published online on Tuesday, emphasized that the plaintiffs relied on these terms when opting out of the sync feature.
This ruling adds to the growing list of legal challenges faced by Google, the world’s leading digital advertising company, which has been embroiled in various lawsuits over data privacy issues in recent years, similar to its competitor Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Initially, a judge dismissed the class-action lawsuit, siding with Google’s argument that users had consented to the collection of their private information. However, the appeals court judges disagreed with this assessment, noting that the terminology used by Google might be misleading to the average user. They argued that the lower court should have evaluated the case from the perspective of a typical user, rather than assuming that users possessed the sophisticated legal knowledge required to navigate complex terms and conditions.
The appeals court pointed out that Google's communications, particularly those stating that "personal information stored by Chrome will not be sent to Google" unless "sync is enabled," could reasonably lead users to believe that their data would remain private if they chose not to enable sync. The court emphasized that a "reasonable" user might assume that disabling sync would prevent Google from accessing or using their personal information. As a result, the case has been sent back to the lower court for further consideration, underscoring the importance of clear and transparent communication between tech companies and their users regarding data privacy and consent.
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