The U.K. data protection watchdog, the ICO, has intervened
in a court case brought against Google on privacy grounds by a group of
U.K. Internet users because it is interested in how aspects of the case
might help clarify questions around the jurisdiction of national data
protection law vis-à-vis Internet giants, which are invariably based
overseas.
The U.K. web users bringing the case, which has been ongoing since the start of 2013, allege that Google used cookies to track their browsing activity via Apple’s Safari browser in 2011 and 2012 against their wishes. The case follows an earlier class action law suit against Google in the U.S. which was thrown out because the judge said the plaintiffs could not prove they had suffered any harm.
However the FTC did slap Google with a penalty of $22.5 million for secretly bypassing Safari privacy settings in order to harvest intel to sell to advertisers.
Google’s legal strategy to fight the case in the U.K. has included attempting to have the complaint dismissed and moved to its own jurisdiction of California, claiming it processes information outside the U.K. and therefore that U.K. data protection law does not apply.
Earlier this year the U.K. High Court rejected that argument and permitted the case to be heard here. Google then went to the Court of Appeal to try to overturn the ruling — and it’s at this point the ICO has intervened by submitting written evidence to the court.
Read more: U.K. Court Case Against Google Could Clarify Law On Private Data | TechCrunch
The U.K. web users bringing the case, which has been ongoing since the start of 2013, allege that Google used cookies to track their browsing activity via Apple’s Safari browser in 2011 and 2012 against their wishes. The case follows an earlier class action law suit against Google in the U.S. which was thrown out because the judge said the plaintiffs could not prove they had suffered any harm.
However the FTC did slap Google with a penalty of $22.5 million for secretly bypassing Safari privacy settings in order to harvest intel to sell to advertisers.
Google’s legal strategy to fight the case in the U.K. has included attempting to have the complaint dismissed and moved to its own jurisdiction of California, claiming it processes information outside the U.K. and therefore that U.K. data protection law does not apply.
Earlier this year the U.K. High Court rejected that argument and permitted the case to be heard here. Google then went to the Court of Appeal to try to overturn the ruling — and it’s at this point the ICO has intervened by submitting written evidence to the court.
Read more: U.K. Court Case Against Google Could Clarify Law On Private Data | TechCrunch
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