$5.5M Google Privacy Settlement Revived After 3rd Circ. Rejection

Google users are arguing that a revised $5.5 million Google privacy class action settlement should be approved after the original settlement was dismissed by an appeals court.

The settlement would have resolved claims that Google circumvented consumer privacy settings on Internet Explorer and Safari browsers through the use of tracking “cookies.”

These cookies were reportedly put into place when consumers visited certain websites, regardless of whether or not users had set up their browsers to block tracking cookies.

Claims that Google violated consumer privacy laws were brought in several class actions which were consolidated into a multidistrict litigation.

The $5.5 million Google privacy class action settlement was initially approved in February 2017 but objections to the settlement resulted in the settlement proceedings being halted.

Objector Theodore Frank claimed that the settlement was unfair because public interest organizations would receive payments from the fund rather than Class Members. Frank claimed that Class Members were owed payments under the settlement for their privacy being violated. Frank’s objections were eventually taken to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appeals court ruled against the Google class action settlement, taking issue with the terms of the deal. The Third Circuit reportedly found specific issues with the fact that Class Members would be forced to give up their right to sue Google under the settlement agreement. However, the appeals court did not dispute the settlement’s distribution plan.

“We believe that, in some Rule 23(b)(2) class actions, a cy pres-only settlement may properly be approved,” the Third Circuit determined in dismissing the Google class action settlement. “But here the district court’s cursory certification and fairness analysis were insufficient for us to review its order certifying the class and approving the settlement.”

The Google users who recently renewed their motion for preliminary approval say they have worked to address concerns brought by the Third Circuit.

Under the new settlement terms, up to 10 cy pres recipients will receive payments from the settlement after being chosen by a third party. Recipients will reportedly be eligible for payments if they are recognized leaders in privacy and cybersecurity. Those who receive payments, must reportedly pledge to use the funds to support research or public education.

The settlement Class is made up of millions of people who used Apple Safari or Microsoft Internet Explorer to visit websites which used cookies from Google’s advertising services. Based on the large size of the Class, the consumers argue that distributing the settlement fund to select recipients is the “most efficient and best use of the settlement proceeds.”

Are you eligible for the proposed settlement? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

The plaintiffs and proposed settlement Class are represented by Brian Russell Strange of Strange & Butler LLP, James P. Frickleton and Edward D. Robertson III of Bartimus Frickleton Robertson Rader PC, and Stephen G. Grygiel of Grygiel Law LLC, among others.

The Google Privacy Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation, Case No. 1:12-md-02358, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

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