A U.S. judge denied Google's plea for dismissal of a case that claimed the company violated the privacy of millions of people by covertly monitoring their internet use.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court stated on Monday that she was unable to determine whether users had given Google their permission to collect data about their online activities because the Alphabet unit never made this clear to them.
The $5 billion class action lawsuit's plaintiffs' attorney, David Boies, hailed the judgment as "an important step in protecting the privacy interests of millions of Americans."
The plaintiffs claimed that even when users turned the Google Chrome browser to "Incognito" mode and other browsers to "Private" browsing mode, the Mountain View, California-based corporation was still able to follow what users were doing online via analytics, cookies, and apps.
They claimed that by doing this, Google was able to gather sufficient information about their friends, hobbies, favorite meals, shopping patterns, and any "potentially embarrassing things" they looked up online, turning it into "an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it."
The Oakland, California-based judge also highlighted several Google statements, including those found in its privacy policy, which appear to suggest limitations on the data the Company may collect.
"Taken as a whole, a triable issue exists as to whether these writings created an enforceable promise that Google would not collect users' data while they browsed privately," Rogers wrote.
According to Google spokesman Jose Castaneda, the corporation strongly disputes the plaintiffs' assertions and will fiercely defend itself.
He said, "Incognito mode in Chrome gives you the choice to browse the internet without your activity being saved to your browser or device. As we clearly state each time you open a new incognito tab, websites might be able to collect information about your browsing activity during your session."
Since June 1, 2016, the lawsuit covers Google users. In order to make up for violations of federal eavesdropping and California privacy laws, it demands at least $5,000 in damages per user.
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