AGs Oppose Google Street View Class Action Settlement

Nine attorneys general have filed an amicus brief objecting to a $13 million cy pres settlement between Google and consumers which would end a class action lawsuit related to company’s gathering of Wi-Fi data with its Street View vehicles.

The attorneys general argue that the Google Street View cy pres settlement would not benefit consumers and that the money will only go to charities and class counsel.

They claim that they are “speaking for consumers who will be harmed by the proposed settlement that has obtained a $13 million cash fund yet sends no cash or other direct compensation to class members.”

The AGs state that the cy pres settlement will “bargain away class claims” from millions of people who will not benefit the class in any way. The amicus brief also states that the injunctive relief mirrors funds promised by Google when they reached a 2013 settlement with 39 state Attorneys General.

“Courts at all levels have debated the appropriateness of cy pres within class action settlements. And the issue has drawn recent interest from the Supreme Court,” the amicus brief notes.

The attorneys general argue that the court has a responsibility to absent Class Members that makes it necessary to reject the Google Street View class action settlement and then divide the funds to include unnamed Class Members who could directly benefit from the deal.

The amicus brief states that the Google settlement provides for around $8.75 million to cy pres recipients, around $4 million to class counsel, and more than $91,000 to the class representatives. That said, absent class members reportedly do not receive anything from the roughly $13 million cash fund.

“Yet it is the absent class members who are being certified together into a class solely so their claims, both injunctive and monetary, can be bargained away in order to warrant a $13 million pay out by Defendant Google,” claim the attorneys general.

The brief notes that there is no attempt to send any portion of the “significant cash fund” to class members to whom the money rightly belongs.

“Without receiving any of the $13 million cash fund or any meaningful injunctive relief, class members receive no direct benefit from the settlement. The settlement’s broad release therefore extinguishes class members’ claims in exchange for nothing,” the Google Street View amicus brief states.

The brief argues that the court should take a critical look at the settlement and see that it does not offer any direct compensation to any unnamed class members in exchange for a release of their claims.

The original class action lawsuit was filed in 2010 when Google announced that its Street View cars were collecting data over WiFi networks that were not encrypted. Numerous Google Street View class actions were subsequently filed and consolidated in November 2010. 

The case made its way to the Ninth Circuit court, which rejected Google’s argument that the company had legally collected the data. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, but the high court refused to hear the case.

Google reached the class action settlement in July 2019.

Are you a part of the Google Street View Settlement? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiffs and settlement Class Members are represented by Jeffrey L. Kodroff, John A. Macoretta and Mary Ann Giorno Geppert of Spector Roseman & Kodroff PC, Daniel A. Small of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Michael W. Sobol and Melissa Gardner of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP.

The Google Street View Data Collecting Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Google LLC Street View Electronic Communications Litigation, Case No. 3:10-md-02184, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Read More Lawsuit & Settlement News:

Canadian Law Firm Launches Ukrainian Airlines Flight Class Action

Lawsuit Filed over Alleged Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cover Up

Beekeepers’ Honey Protest is the Latest in Worldwide Glyphosate Herbicide Controversy

Jerome’s Bonded Leather Furniture Class Action Settlement