Google Settles $5 Billion Privacy Suit, Reduces Legal Load in 2023 Year-End
Google Lawsuit Settlements in 2023
In what proved to be a very eventful end of 2023, Internet search giant Google agreed to settle a $5 Billion lawsuit alleging it spied on users who thought they were protecting their privacy by using the Google search engine in “privacy” mode.
Google Settles Incognito Mode Related Lawsuit
The class-action lawsuit, filed in June 2020, alleged Google misled users into believing that it would not track user activity in so-called “privacy” modes like Chrome’s Incognito, even though Google continued to utilize advertising and other technologies (like advertising analytics, cookies, and apps) to catalog details of users’ online activities, such as sites visited, friends, hobbies, favorite foods, and even shopping habits. Plaintiffs also alleged Google’s violation of federal wiretapping laws and sought damages of at least $5 Billion.
The settlement comes after Google (owned by Alphabet and worth somewhere near $1.7 Trillion), attempted a formal dismissal of the lawsuit, claiming the message that is displayed when a user selects Chrome’s Incognito mode informs users that their activities may still be visible to others. The federal judge rejected this argument, expressly noting that “[b]ecause Google never explicitly told users that it does so, the Court cannot find as a matter of law that users explicitly consented to the at-issue data collection.” The judge ultimately denied Google’s motion, ruling an open question remained as to whether Google made legally binding representations not to gather data from browsers using privacy mode.
The terms of the settlement have not yet been made public but attorneys for Plaintiffs have noted that the Court has put on hold a previously scheduled trial date of February 5, 2024, and that they expect to present a final agreement for the Court’s approval by February 24, 2024.
Google Lawsuit Settlements at 2023 Year-End
This was not the only year-end legal activity for Google. Also in December 2023, Google reached a $700 million settlement with fifty U.S. states to resolve a lawsuit filed by the states’ attorneys general alleging that the company engages in anticompetitive practices with its Google Play Store. The attorneys general litigated the case alongside Epic Games and Match Group. Match reached a separate settlement with Google in November 2023, while Epic took its case to trial in December and won—just before the details of the $700 million settlement with the states were revealed. Also completed toward the end of 2023 was the months-long bench trial of antitrust claims brought against Google by the U.S. Justice Department back in October 2020. A decision in that trial is anticipated early this year.
Given it controls around 90% of the search-engine market in the U.S., it is unlikely Google’s legal woes have been resolved, but the end of 2023 helped reduce the number of “high profile” lawsuits on Google’s plate—at least for now.
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