Google must face U.S. privacy lawsuit over commingled user data

       A Google sign is seen at a Best Buy electronics store in this photo illustration in Encinitas,          California April 11, 2013.

REUTERS - A federal judge rejected Google Inc's (GOOGL.O) bid to dismiss a privacy lawsuit claiming it commingled user data across different products and disclosed that data to advertisers without permission.

Saying his decision was a close call, U.S. District Judge Paul Grewal in San Jose, California, ruled on Monday night that Google must face breach of contract and fraud claims by users of Android-powered devices who had downloaded at least one Android application through Google Play.

Other parts of the lawsuit were dismissed, including claims brought on behalf of account users who switched to non-Android devices from Android devices after Google had changed its privacy policy in 2012 to allow the commingling.

"Like Rocky rising from Apollo's uppercut in the 14th round, plaintiffs' complaint has sustained much damage but just manages to stand," Grewal wrote in a 28-page decision, referring to the film series starring Sylvester Stallone as the boxer Rocky Balboa. Grewal had dismissed two earlier versions of the lawsuit.

Google is based in Mountain View, California, and operates its namesake Internet search engine. It did not immediately respond on Tuesday to a request for comment.
Mark Gardy and Joseph Sabella, lawyers for the plaintiffs, did not immediately respond to similar requests.

The lawsuit arose after Google on March 1, 2012 scrapped a variety of privacy policies for different products, and created a single, unified policy letting it merge user data generated through platforms such as Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube.

Users complained that Google made this change without their consent and with no way to opt out, in a bid to better compete for ad revenue against Facebook Inc (FB.O) and other social media companies "where all of a consumer's personal information is available in one site."
They said this jeopardized their privacy by exposing names, email addresses and geographic locations, increasing the threat of harassment or identity theft by third parties.
Google reported $15.42 billion of revenue in the first quarter, of which 90 percent came from advertising.

The case is In re: Google Inc Privacy Policy Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 12-01382.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Burning Man Erection Contests Where A mans Erectile resilience (Stiffy) is Tested.

Image
"The first boner to rise gets the prize," says Brad McCray at the start of the event. McCray is a beast of a man who leads the Burning Man theme camp Slut Garden with his wife of 10 years, Tammy. In front of him, five men stand exposed from the waist down with their scantily clad female partners dancing around them, encircled by a cheering, dust-covered crowd of hundreds. Every man is trying to produce an erection as fast as he can without touching himself. Their partners can encourage the sexletes but not by using their hands. This is the Speed Boner challenge, the finale to McCray's fourth annual Slut Olympics. Other events include Deep Throat (a pretty self-explanatory contest that involves a 13-inch dildo), Guess-A-Willy (a blindfolded woman has to identify her partner's penis out of a lineup of naked men), and a Best Balls beauty contest. Speed Boner is still the biggest draw. For seven days, a patch of the Black Rock Desert in Nevada becomes t
Read more

Revealed! Yvonne Nelson Speaks on lesbian Rumours.

Image
’I like Jim Iyke because he is a hot guy’ By Ekerete Udoh My interview with top Ghanaian actress – Yvonne Nelson-was a revelation in so many ways. Of the leading Nollywood stars, Yvonne is among those I had not had a close relationship with. I had watched her from afar, seen countless number of her movies and had always thought she was a great and talented actress – someone who combined poise, beauty and style. I had also heard of some unsavory things ascribed to her – the rumors of sexual orientation which some say verged between pure lesbianism and bi-sexualism – all manner of shenanigans that had been whispered and published about her. Some years ago, she came out with a movie, “Heart of Men”, in which she seemed to have appeared in frontal nudity– a development that set off a firestorm of protest among Nollywood lovers –with many condemning the exploitation of graphic sexual images to promote and sell movies – which was a deviation of what Nollywood had alway
Read more

Bare-breasted Women Parade Through New York for Seventh Annual Go Topless Day...

Image
Sunday was the seventh annual International Go Topless Day and women around the world marched topless in support of women's rights. The movement: states as its mission 'As long as men are allowed to be topless in public, women should have the same constitutional right. Or else, men should have to wear something to hide their chests.' In one of 60 events planned around the world women gathered in Manhattan with placards and banners - and without their tops. Scroll down for video The green colored states are those where top freedom is in effect. The orange colored ones have amibiguous state laws on the matter. The red colored ones are the ones where the mere showing of the female breast in public is illegal according to state law. Though the majority of states are top free, some cities in those states have passed (unconstitutional) ordinances that annul the state's top free statute. The following cities are officially topless "tested&q
Read more