$23M Google settlement resolves decades-old data privacy class action

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Google search data class action settlement overview: 

• Who: Google has reached a settlement agreement with a group of users.
• Why: Users claimed Google breached its privacy policy by sharing their search data with third parties.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was heard in California federal court.

(Oct. 11, 2022)

Google has reached a settlement agreement with a group of its users over long standing claims that the company improperly shared their search data with third parties. 

The agreement would resolve a class action lawsuit filed in 2010 by users who alleged Google breached its privacy policy and violated the Stored Communications Act. 

Google previously agreed to a class action settlement with the users worth $8.5 million back in 2015, however, while the settlement was approved, it was later vacated by the high court after putative Class Members clashed over the cy pres recipient of leftover funds, Law360 reports. 

Google and the plaintiffs told a California federal court this week they were now finalizing the terms of a new written settlement agreement, which they said would soon be submitted for preliminary approval. Google had previously attempted to get the class action lawsuit dismissed after the original settlement deal was vacated, arguing users did not sufficiently plead concrete private injury, rendering its Stored Communications Act claims baseless. 

A federal judge disagreed with Google, however, ruling the users’ had pleaded the “invasion of a legally protected interest that is concrete,” Law360 reports.

A similar class action lawsuit was filed this month against NFL Enterprises LLC by users of the company’s NFL App who claimed NFL Enterprises shared users’ data with Google without their knowledge or consent. 

Do you believe Google breached its privacy policy by sharing users’ search data with third parties? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Kassra P. Nassiri of Nassiri & Jung LLP and Michael Aschenbrener of Kamberlaw LLC.

The Google Search Data Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Google Referrer Header Privacy Litigation, Case No. 5:10-cv-04809, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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