Google Agrees to Mediation in Privacy Class Action Lawsuit

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Last Thursday, Google Inc. agreed to enter into mediation regarding claims brought against the company in the Google privacy class action lawsuit, despite the fact that a great number of the privacy violations claims were thrown out by the presiding California federal judge.

The Google privacy class action lawsuit was filed by a group of consumers who allege that internet giant violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, among other state and federal privacy statutes, by storing users’ data across multiple Google owned and operated platforms.

The plaintiffs allege that in March 2012, Google changed their privacy policy without user consent, which, according to the Google privacy class action lawsuit, allowed the company to merge customers’ data from multiple Google products and services. These platforms include: YouTube, Gmail, Google Plus, and, of course, Google’s popular search engine.

The group of consumers allege that by merging the customer data across multiple platforms, Google was able to tailor advertisements for their customers based on the search history and app use without consumers’ authorization. This also allowed Google to distribute customers’ personal information to third party companies.

The plaintiffs of the Google privacy class action lawsuit have fought hard to keep their litigation afloat. In July 2013, Judge Paul Singh Grewal tossed multiple claims against Google when he discovered that the plaintiffs’ allegations did not meet the court’s pleading standards. It seemed that the case would be closed when Judge Grewal dismissed the privacy class action lawsuit as a whole a few months later. However, the judge did allow the plaintiffs to resubmit the Google class action lawsuit with the necessary changes to meet pleading standards.

Earlier this summer, Judge Grewal denied Google’s third attempt to dismiss the privacy class action lawsuit. When asked about his ruling, the judge stated, “Like Rocky rising from Apollo’s uppercut in the 14th round, plaintiffs’ complaint has sustained much damage but just manages to stand.” The persistence of the plaintiffs has seemed to won out considering that Google has agreed to enter mediation with this group of consumers.

While Judge Grewal did toss the claim of violation of California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act, violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law, and various other claims, he did allow the plaintiffs’ privacy class action lawsuit to proceed with a claim of breach of contract and an allegation of fraud, which apply specifically to a subclass of Google Play consumers.

The subclass claims that the apps purchased through Google’s Play Store shared their personal data with third parties without consumer consent. Google attempted to dismiss this claim based on uncertainty and lack of plaintiff specificity, but Judge Grewal dismissed Google’s arguments and allowed the claim to proceed.

As both parties enter into mediation, Google and the plaintiffs have agreed to hold a mediation session no later than Feb. 6, 2015.

The plaintiffs are represented by Mark C. Gardy, James S. Notis, Kelly A. Noto and Charles A. Germershausen of Gardy & Notis LLP, James J. Sabella of Grant & Eisenhofer PA and L. Timothy Fisher and Sarah N. Westcot of Bursor & Fisher PA, among others.

The Google Privacy Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Google Inc. Privacy Policy Litigation, Case No. 5:12-cv-01382, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On May 12, 2015, plaintiffs filed a motion seeking certification of the Google privacy class action lawsuit. A hearing has been scheduled for June 9, 2015.