Google will have to face a class-action lawsuit accusing it of collecting user data through Chrome without their consent. a decision on tuesdayA federal appeals court reversed a judgment of December 2022 which dismissed the case, saying the lower court should have reviewed Google's disclosures and determined “whether a reasonable user reading them would think he or she was consenting to data collection.”
The class action lawsuit, First introduced in 2020alleged that Google was collecting data from Chrome users regardless of whether they had enabled Chrome Sync. This feature saves bookmarks, passwords, open tabs, and other data to your Google Account, allowing it to easily access this information when you're signed in to Chrome on multiple devices.
The plaintiffs claimed that Chrome “intentionally and unlawfully” sent browsing history, IP addresses, persistent cookie IDs, and unique browser identifiers to Google without their explicit permission. At the time, Google argued that users consented to this by agreeing to the company’s privacy policy. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agreed, stating in her dismissal order that “Google adequately disclosed and Plaintiffs consented to the collection of the data at issue.”
However, Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. writes in today’s decision that Judge Gonzalez Rogers failed to consider whether users actually understood this agreement. “Google had a general privacy statement but promoted Chrome by suggesting that certain information would not be sent to Google unless a user turned on syncing,” Smith writes. The case will be sent back to the lower courts for reconsideration.
“We disagree with this ruling and are confident that the facts of the case are on our side. Chrome Sync helps people use Chrome seamlessly across their devices and has clear privacy controls,” Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said in a statement. The edgeAnd while Google will soon no longer require users to enable Chrome Sync to access saved information, Castaneda says, “This announcement is not related to the litigation.”
