Group takes Google to court over illegal collection of data

An advocacy group is taking legal action against Google on behalf of UK iPhone users, arguing that the company illegally collected data from their iPhones while they used Apple’s Safari browser.

According to a consumer group, Google You Owe Us, the search giant has been illegally collecting personal details from iPhone users by exploiting default privacy settings found on Apple iPhones, which block third-party tracking on the Safari browser via cookies.

The group has said that in 2011 and 2012 Google used an algorithm to get around this restriction, track iPhone users’ browsing and collect personal data. This is known as the “Safari Workaround”.

Read also: 7 Gmail tips everyone should know

The Guardian reports that at the opening of two-day hearing in London, representatives for the group stated that data collected includes not just shopping preferences and location data, but also race, health (including mental health), political views, sexual orientation, class and financial situation.

This data was used to group users into categories such as “football lovers” which could be subjected to more targeted advertising.

Google You Owe Us, which is led by Richard Lloyd, former director at Which?, is pushing for the case to be treated like a US class action lawsuit, in which the plaintiffs represent a far larger group of people (in this case, iPhone users).

 

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