Google class action alleging unlawful call data collection survives dismissal

Google AI class action lawsuit overview:

• Who: A California federal judge denied Google’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit that alleges the company unlawfully collects and analyzes call data.
• Why: The judge determined the complaint adequately alleges Google acted as an unauthorized third party to customer calls, thus violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

A California federal judge denied Google’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit that argues the company unlawfully collected and analyzed call data from calls made by consumers to various business customer service centers.

The class action lawsuit argues Google acted as an unauthorized third party to their calls, in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). 

The tech giant responded that it simply provides a software tool to its business clients and does not engage in any conduct that violates CIPA. 

The judge determined, however, that the consumers adequately alleged Google acted as an unauthorized third party to their calls and thus violated CIPA.

“At this stage of the litigation, the Court is required to accept the allegations of the operative complaint as true,” the judge said, in an order denying Google’s motion to dismiss.

Judge finds consumers adequately alleged Google acted as unauthorized third party

Google’s Google Cloud Contact Center AI (GCCCAI) product supports customer service centers of other businesses by offering a virtual agent for callers to interact with, or to support a human agent, according to the Google AI class action. 

The class action lawsuit argues, meanwhile, that Google transcribes and analyzes customer service calls made to companies such as Verizon, Hulu, GoDaddy and Home Depot without disclosing its involvement to the caller.

The judge determined the consumers adequately alleged Google has the capability to use the wiretapped data it collects to improve its AI/ML models, regardless of whether it actually makes use of that data.

“After all, it would be illogical for Google to grant itself the conditional right under its own terms of service to do something it is not capable of doing,” the judge said.

The judge previously tossed the class action lawsuit last year with a leave to amend, ruling at that time that the CIPA claims were barred by an exemption in the law for telephone companies and their agents

What do you think of the allegations in this Google class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by George A. Zelcs and Robert E. Litan of Korein Tillery LLC.

The Google AI class action lawsuit is Ambriz, et al. v. Google, LLC, Case No. 3:23-cv-05437, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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