Google is set to face a class action lawsuit accusing it of collecting users’ data via Chrome without their consent. As reported by The Verge, on Tuesday, a federal appeals court overturned a December 2022 ruling that had dismissed the case, stating that the lower court should have assessed Google’s disclosures to determine if a reasonable user would believe they were consenting to the data collection.
Originally filed in 2020, the lawsuit alleges that Google gathered data from Chrome users, even if they did not enable the Chrome sync feature, which saves data like bookmarks and passwords to a user’s Google account for access across devices. The plaintiffs argue that Google ‘intentionally and unlawfully’ collected browsing history, IP addresses, cookie identifiers, and unique browser identifiers without explicit user consent. Google defended itself by stating that users agreed to this when they accepted the company’s privacy policy, a position supported by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in her initial dismissal.
However, Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. in the latest decision noted that Judge Gonzalez Rogers did not fully consider whether users truly understood the agreement. He pointed out that while Google had a general privacy disclosure, it also promoted Chrome in a way that implied certain data wouldn’t be sent to Google unless the sync feature was activated. The case has been sent back to the lower courts for further review.
