Google has offered to settle a class action lawsuit in federal court for $23 million. Originally filed in October 2010, the 12-year-old lawsuit claims that Google’s search engine allegedly leaked private consumer data by transmitting search queries to publishers and other third parties, reports Media Post. The information included names as well as other personally identifiable information, a practice Google has since discontinued. Google denies any wrongdoing.

The lawsuit alleged that the disclosure of search terms to third parties violates users’ statutory and contractual privacy rights. The case also alleged that Google violated the Stored Communications Act, a federal law governing access to records held by internet service providers, and California state laws.

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Consumers could receive a portion of proceeds

If the U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California accepts Google’s proposed settlement offer, as many as 200 million internet users could qualify to receive a portion of the proceeds. Those eligible will be internet users in the U.S. who performed Google searches between October 25, 2006 and September 30, 2013. Bloomberg reports that a settlement would also require Google to add disclosures to consumers about the “sharing of search terms.”

A settlement has been in the works since 2013

In July 2013, Google attempted to settle the lawsuit for $8.5 million. That deal was questioned by Ted Frank of the Center for Class Action Fairness, saying it didn’t compensate those harmed by Google’s actions. The case has since bounced back and forth among different courts since that time. The new settlement has been more than a year in the making.

Two months after settling a $392M data privacy case

This latest settlement comes two months after Google settled a data privacy case for $392 million with 40 states. In that case, the tech giant stored user location data regardless of a user’s privacy settings. Google allegedly misled users; they tracked user locations even when they were logged out of Google apps.

The state attorneys general involved in the investigation said Google was using the location data to target consumers with ads related to their location data, making it easier to identify a person’s identity and routines and also violating consumer protection laws.

“Consumers thought they had turned ‘off’ their location tracking features on Google, but the company continued to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers,” said Ellen Rosenblum, the Oregon attorney general, in a November 14, 2022 statement.

“Consumer privacy is one of my office’s top priorities. That’s why it’s so important to me that Oregon played a key role in this settlement. Until we have comprehensive privacy laws, companies will continue to compile large amounts of our personal data for marketing purposes with few controls,” Rosenblum added.

Insider Take

No company is immune to prosecution. The laws of the land apply to companies like Google too, and it is their responsibility to ensure that they are respecting and following state and federal laws designed to protect consumer privacy. In addition to longstanding legislation on data privacy, the concept of data privacy is coming under more scrutiny in the U.S. and in the European Union in particular with GDPR. These settlements will not make much of a difference to Google’s bottom line, but we hope they serve as a lesson that the government – and attorneys and consumer groups – are watching.

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