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Google Sued For 'Clandestine Tracking' of 4.4 Million UK iPhone Users' Browsing Data (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the to-the-surprise-of-no-one dept.

Google is being sued in the high court for as much as $4.3 billion for the alleged "clandestine tracking and collation" of personal information from 4.4 million iPhone users in the UK. From a report: The collective action is being led by former Which? director Richard Lloyd over claims Google bypassed the privacy settings of Apple's Safari browser on iPhones between August 2011 and February 2012 in order to divide people into categories for advertisers. At the opening of an expected two-day hearing in London on Monday, lawyers for Lloyd's campaign group Google You Owe Us told the court information collected by Google included race, physical and mental heath, political leanings, sexuality, social class, financial, shopping habits and location data.

Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing Lloyd, said information was then "aggregated" and users were put into groups such as "football lovers" or "current affairs enthusiasts" for the targeting of advertising. Tomlinson said the data was gathered through "clandestine tracking and collation" of browsing on the iPhone, known as the "Safari Workaround" -- an activity he said was exposed by a PhD researcher in 2012. Tomlinson said Google has already paid $39.5m to settle claims in the US relating to the practice. Google was fined $22.5m for the practice by the US Federal Trade Commission in 2012 and forced to pay $17m to 37 US states.

12 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. Cue Google defenders blaming Apple by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1, Troll

    Go!

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    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  2. Who gets the money? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You can't tell me this money goes to the 4.4 million affected. How is money used for a settlement like this?

    1. Re:Who gets the money? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      In the UK, the members of the class action will get the mulah AND Google will have to stump up their legal costs on top of it.
      The money will go to the members of the action.
      Personally, I home Google gets hit really, really hard. $4.3B is only a tenth of what I'd fine them.

    2. Re:Who gets the money? by jetkust · · Score: 2

      In the US, Google writes the check directly to the lawyer suing them and then issues a 10% off coupon to the members of the class action while also docking their social credit score.

  3. Who does Googe think they are? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Only the government gets to clandestinely track everyone! And then only for crime, or fleshing out the networks of political opposition."

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    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    1. Re:Who does Googe think they are? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Its all about the ads. Just the ads.

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      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  4. Lot's of articles about companies' behavior today by xack · · Score: 1

    Talking of them being fined and split up. Google, Alphabet and the Big 5 need both.

  5. The GCHQ obviously. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Because only they are allowed to do tracking, spying, terrorizing, and injecting of child porn and terrorist data in order to get rid of you.

    So obviously, by media industry logic, they were harmed by being denied the "freedom" (of harming others).

  6. They can be Evil now. by sycodon · · Score: 1

    They removed the "Don't be evil" from their code of conduct.

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    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  7. My essay mentions this by yuhong · · Score: 1

    Have an entire paragraph about this in the essay: http://yuhongbao.blogspot.ca/2...

  8. Dear Britain, by PPH · · Score: 1

    You already live in a surveillance state with no right to possess a spork. We didn't think you'd mind.

    Sincerely yours,
    Google

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    Have gnu, will travel.
  9. Re:EU sues while US does nothing. by ausekilis · · Score: 1

    Oh FFS, it's the last sentence of the summary:

    Google was fined $22.5m for the practice by the US Federal Trade Commission in 2012 and forced to pay $17m to 37 US states.

    That said, the penalty should really have a few more zeroes at the end. Why would they stop making XX billions if they get fined the occasional YY millions?