Google Sued Over ‘Secret Monitoring’ May Pay Millions For Privacy Intrusion

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Google Sued Over ‘Secret Monitoring’ May Pay Millions For Privacy Intrusion

Internet giant, Google faces allegations that it used ‘clandestine’ tracking to monitor British users of the Safari web browser

Battle by Google to establish that it is above British law resumed today in a landmark trial that will decide whether or not it can be held accountable by its users in this country.

The internet giant unsuccessfully argued earlier this year that the High Court did not have jurisdiction to try the claims.

It is now trying to have the decision overturned, with lawyers for Google saying that the group which brought the case should have launched its claims in the United States, where the company is based.

The claims have been brought by a group known as Safari Users Against Google’s Secret Tracking, which includes Judith Vidal-Hall, a former editor of Index on Censorship magazine, and IT security company directors Robert Hann and Marc Bradshaw. The case is being fought on behalf of about 100 people in Britain and, if it is won, could open Google up to claims from millions more people who were using Apple equipment in 2010.