What you need to know
- Google reportedly agrees to pay $23 million for a decade-long lawsuit.
- The search giant is attempting to close the deal for the second time after an earlier attempt was thwarted.
- The deal still needs to be approved by the coart.
Google has reportedly agreed to shell out $23 million to settle a case pending in California since 2010.
The alleged search privacy deal still needs court approval, reported Bloomberg Law early last week. A case in point claims that Google allegedly shared search terms from consumer queries with advertisers and third-party vendors.
Those involved in the lawsuit are said to have been represented by multiple prominent law firms, including Nassiri & Jung LLP, KamberLaw LLC, and Progressive Law Group LLC. Meanwhile, Google is represented by Mayer Brown LLP and O'Melveny Myers LLP, notes Bloomberg Law report.
It's claimed that the search engine giant is said to have shared search items with third parties, including advertisers, whenever a user tried to use Google to conduct a search, be it on an Android phone or on the web, and click on the relevant search result links — disclosing the user's personal information in the process. The lawsuit also claims that these marketers paid Google to learn more about the search-related factors influencing a customer's intention to click on a specific page.
According to the lawsuit, Google violated the Stored Communications Act, a federal mandate governing access to records stored by ISPs (Internet Service Providers), and state regulations in California.
While the suit was filed more than a decade ago, Bloomberg Law report states that Google tried to settle the case in 2013 for $8.5 million, although that fell through due to decisions made in a separate case.
In 2022, Google paid out millions in settlements over Android's location tracking, which was seen as "dubious" and deceptive. A separate settlement focused on Google Photos' facial recognition and Google's lack of proper notice and consent.
