PointRoll Agrees to Settle Safari Tracking Class Action Lawsuit

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PointRoll has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit over allegations it violated the privacy settings of Safari users. If U.S. District Court Judge Sue Robinson approves the class action settlement, it will resolve allegations that PointRoll planted cookies on the computers of Safari users in violation of computer fraud and wiretap laws.

While the terms of the class action settlement have not been disclosed, PointRoll has indicated that this agreement will not affect class action lawsuits involving Google, Vibrant Media and WPP’s Media Innovation Group — the other three companies that have been accused of circumventing the privacy settings of Safari users. While the lawsuits accuse the companies of privacy violations, none of the companies have been accused of linking cookie-based data to any of the users’ personally identifiable information.

The Safari privacy class action lawsuits were initially filed following a 2012 report by Jonathan Mayer, a computer scientist and graduate of Stanford Law, in which he claimed that the companies circumvented Safari’s no-tracking settings. By circumventing the web browser’s privacy settings, these companies were able to display targeted advertisements based on users’ Internet activity. His report suggests that Google “tricked” Safari users into accepting third-party cookies.

Google, Vibrant Media and WPP’s Media Innovation Group believe that the class action lawsuits against them should be dismissed because the Class Members were not injured. However, Google recently agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle charges related to the alleged circumvention with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC had earlier reached a settlement with Google that prohibited the company from misrepresenting its privacy settings. Although the agency has not charged the other defendants involved in the class action lawsuit, the FTC accused Google of misleading consumers by falsely claiming that the Safari web browser would block tracking cookies.

Google is currently facing dozens of similar class action lawsuits, which have been consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL) to facilitate consistency and efficiency. Google has insisted that its intent was not to track users. The company claims that it circumvented Safari’s privacy settings for the purpose of allowing users to interact with the ads using the +1 button. Google’s DoubleClick was then able to track people to target ads based on their Internet browsing history.

Google is seeking to have the MDL dismissed, arguing that the plaintiffs cannot prove that they suffered any harm from having the cookies placed on their computers. The MDL accuses Google and the other defendants of violating the federal Wiretap Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. [UPDATE: A judge granted Google’s motion to dismiss the MDL on October 9, 2013.]

The Google Safari Tracking Class Action Lawsuit MDL is In re: Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation, MDL No. 02358, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.