Google “Incognito” users lose their appeal to bring a class action lawsuit
Customers who were suing Alphabet Inc.’s Google LLC for its data collection methods lost their initial appeal to seek billions of dollars in monetary damages through a class action.
Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Google in 2020, asserting that regardless of users’ usage of web surfing in Chrome’s “Incognito” mode, Google remained to collect data from them. At least $5 billion in compensation is demanded in the complaint.
On Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco disallowed the plaintiffs’ request to appeal a lower-court decision from the previous year that rejected civil suit status for claims of civil penalties against Google.
In the middle of the case, the plaintiffs had asked for an appeals court hearing on the matter, and they may still do so when a verdict is rendered in their favour. November will see a jury trial.
In the event that Google is granted class-action status, the plaintiffs will be able to bring broad claims against the company as a whole rather than as an individual. According to court documents, at least “tens of millions” of Google browser users would be included in the damages class.
The plaintiffs, who are represented by seasoned litigator David Boies of Boies Schiller Flexner, had asserted in the 9th Circuit that the lower court’s decision to deny done first in order on harm in December “sounds the death knell” for many users’ damages assertions who have no ability to independently litigate this case.
In requesting a hearing from the parties following a final order, Google’s attorneys at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan petitioned the 9th Circuit not to permit the appeal right away.
Google has disputed misleading anyone on private mode, claiming that users of the Chrome browser gave their approval for the business to collect their data.
Notwithstanding the ruling barring the plaintiffs from suing Google for monetary damages as a class, the lower court had recognised two other classes that might pursue other remedies, such as limiting Google’s data gathering activities.
A message left for Boies and another plaintiff’s attorney on Thursday seeking comment was not immediately returned.