(San Francisco) A US appeals court has ruled that Google must face lawsuits filed by users who accuse the internet giant of harvesting their personal data on its Chrome browser without their permission.
The plaintiffs had chosen not to sync Chrome with their Google accounts (such as their Gmail or YouTube accounts), and believed, based on the terms the browser provided when they made the choice, “that certain personal information would not be collected and used by Google,” a San Francisco appeals court said in a decision posted online Tuesday.
The world’s number one in digital advertising, like its neighbor and competitor Meta (Facebook, Instagram), has been involved in a series of data privacy scandals for years.
A judge initially dismissed the class action, ruling that Google had successfully proven that users had consented to the collection of their private information.
But according to the appeals court judges, the terms used by the California company can be confusing.
The trial court should, they said, have looked at the case from the perspective of a typical user and not “by attributing to that user the skills of an experienced business lawyer or someone who can easily navigate a maze of legalese to understand what he or she is consenting to.”
Google notices, such as “personal information stored by Chrome will not be sent to Google unless you […] enable synchronization,” may lead a “reasonable” user to believe that “if he does not synchronize,” Google will not have access to his personal information, the court emphasizes.
“We do not agree with this decision and we are convinced that the facts are on our side,” reacted José Castaneda, a Google spokesperson, contacted by AFP.
“Chrome Sync helps users use Chrome seamlessly across devices and provides clear privacy controls,” he added.
In late December, Google agreed to destroy data collected on millions of users, under the terms of a settlement reached to end legal proceedings over Chrome’s “Incognito” mode.
In the complaint filed in 2020, the plaintiffs accused the American group of giving users the false impression that they are not being tracked by Google when they surf in “Incognito” mode, and were demanding $5 billion.
From Washington to Brussels, authorities have long been trying to regulate the practices of Google and Meta, whose profits are essentially based on personalized advertising targeting of users, thanks to their data.