2 weeks Ago By Varun Godinho
A class action lawsuit has invited Google Chrome users to join the lawsuit against the company for any privacy rights violated by its Chrome browser’s ‘incognito mode.’ Any user of the Chrome browser who went ‘incognito’ between 2016 and 2023 ‘may be entitled to up to $5,000 compensation based on California statutory damages available for privacy violations,’ the plaintiffs’ attorneys said on X. The case is brought under California’s Invasion of Privacy Act, but as its ‘terms of service’ specify California law as one that governs its activities, all Google Chrome users across the US could qualify to join the lawsuit.
The civil action claims that Google collected incognito users’ personal information without their permission, even after these users chose not to synchronise their browsers with their Google accounts, such as Gmail. The revived class action follows a US appeals court decision issued this month which declared that Chrome users who claim that Google collected their personal information without permission can sue for damages. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco decided that the lower court judge who had previously dismissed the proposed class action should have assessed whether reasonable Chrome users had actually consented to letting Google collect their data when they browsed online.
The original suit, which initially sought at least $5 billion (A$7.36 billion), had been paused since late December 2023, following a preliminary settlement. Scottsdale, Arizona-based lawyer Don Bivens, put out the call for new plaintiffs last week.
There are handsome gains to be made by law firms taking on Google in cases such as this. In April this year, the law firm behind the original litigation filed in 2020, Boies Schiller Flexner, Susman Godfrey and Morgan & Morgan, demanded $217 million (A$319.45 million) in legal fees for their work in reaching the settlement with Google.
They claimed to have worked a staggering 78,880 cumulative hours on the case. Bivens in Arizona filed his own class action suit on behalf of California resident Katherine Wilson in May. “There is no cost to join,” according to the sign-up page hosted by Bevins firm.
“In a contingent fee case, attorneys only receive payment if your claim is successful, with no upfront costs or fees for you to file.”.
