Michael Gennaro reports:
Google argued at a motion for summary judgment hearing Thursday afternoon that a proposed class action filed by Google users over data collection is meritless.
At issue in the case is the Web and App Activity toggle in Android device’s settings. Turning the toggle off prevents future web and app activity being saved to a user’s Google account.
The class plaintiffs, a suit first filed in 2020, claim that Google collected their personalized data even though they turned the toggle off. They claim the toggle gives users the false impression that they can “opt out” of sharing all data with Google and third-party developers, and accused Google of invasion of privacy.
Read more at Courthouse News. I was a bit surprised that Google counsel tried a variant of the “blame the consumer” defense that we have seen in some data breach cases:
Seeborg, a Barack Obama appointee, told Santacana that he thought the language in Google’s privacy policy could possibly mislead a reasonable consumer into believing that toggling the function off stops collection of all data.
Santacana replied that it’s not Google’s fault if a user doesn’t interpret the policies correctly. He said the policy does its best to show users that there is personal info and non-personal info, and allows users to opt out of the company using the personal info.
“What you really have to convince me of is that no reasonable person could have a contrary view,” Seeborg said.