More than 5 million people in the UK could be
entitled to compensation from Google if a class
action against the internet giant for allegedly harvesting personal data is
successful.
A group led by the former executive director of
consumer body Which?, Richard Lloyd, and advised by City law firm Mischon de
Reya claims Google unlawfully collected personal information by bypassing the
default privacy settings on the iPhone between June 2011 and February 2012.
They have launched a legal action with the aim of
securing compensation for those affected. The group, called Google You Owe Us,
says that approximately 5.4 million
people in Britain used the iPhone during
this period and could be entitled to compensation.
Google is accused of breaching principles in the
UK’s data protection laws in a “violation of trust” against iPhone users.
The lawsuit was unprecedented and represented “one
of the biggest fights of my life”, said Lloyd, who has led legal actions against
companies before.
“I believe that what Google did was simply against
the law. Their actions have affected millions, and we’ll be asking the courts
to remedy this major breach of trust.
“Through this action, we will send a strong message
to Google and other tech giants in Silicon Valley that we’re not afraid to
fight back if our laws are broken.
“In all my years speaking up for consumers, I’ve
rarely seen such as massive abuse of trust where so many people have no way to
seek redress on their own.”
He added: “This is … the first case of its kind in
the UK against a major tech company for misusing our valuable personal data.
“I want to spread the world about our claim. Google
owes all of those affected fairness, trust and money. By joining together, we
can show Google that they can’t get away with taking our data without our
consent, and that no matter how large and powerful they are, nobody is above
the law.”
A Google spokesperson said: “This is not new. We
have defended similar cases before. We don’t believe it has any merit and we
will contest it.”
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