U.S. appeals court overturns verdict, calls for reopening of Google Chrome data collection case

According to news from this website on August 21, a U.S. federal appeals court made a ruling today, overturning a class action case that was dismissed in December 2022. The lawsuit accuses Google of collecting user data through the Chrome browser without their consent. The court held that lower courts should review Google's disclosures and determine "whether users would have considered themselves consenting to the data collection when reading them."

1. This class action lawsuit was first filed in 2020, and the plaintiff accused Google of collecting data regardless of whether users enable the Chrome sync feature. Chrome Sync saves bookmarks, passwords, open tabs, and other data to your Google Account so you can access it when you sign in to Chrome on different devices.

2. The plaintiffs allege that Chrome “knowingly and unlawfully” sends users’ browsing history, IP addresses, persistent cookie identifiers, and unique browser identifiers to Google without explicit permission. Google has previously argued that users agreed to this practice when they accepted the company's privacy policy. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agreed with Google, saying in her ruling dismissing the lawsuit that "Google fully disclosed the data collection and Plaintiffs consented."
3. However, Court of Appeals Judge Milan D. Smith Jr. noted in today’s ruling that Judge Gonzalez Rogers did not consider whether users actually understood the agreement. "Google makes general privacy disclosures, yet entices users to use Chrome by suggesting that certain information is not sent to Google unless the user turns on sync," Smith wrote. The case will be sent back to the lower court for a new hearing.
4. This site noticed that Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement: "We disagree with this ruling and believe the facts of the case are on our side. Chrome Sync helps users seamlessly use Chrome on different devices. And have clear privacy controls. "While Google will no longer require users to enable Chrome Sync to access saved information, Castañeda said, "This decision has nothing to do with the lawsuit."

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