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Google wins appeal against 3 billion-pound privacy case

Had Google lost, it could have allowed users to claim money from the search giant.

Google wins appeal against 3 billion-pound privacy case gcw
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New Delhi, First Published Nov 10, 2021, 3:41 PM IST

In a big win for Google, the search engine has won an appeal against a three billion pounds privacy case on Wednesday, which could have allowed users to claim money from the search giant. The United Kingdom's Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the lawsuit, which sought billions of pounds on behalf of more than 4 million individuals, on Wednesday. The plaintiffs, known as Google You Owe Us, accused Google of breaching its commitments by collecting and using browser-generated data between 2011 and 2012.

The ruling will come as a comfort to the computer giant, which might have faced a damages cost of approximately 3 billion pounds ($4 billion) if the lawsuit had been allowed to proceed. The decision also establishes an important legal precedent for future class-action lawsuits in the United Kingdom, which are only permitted under antitrust statutes.

The Lloyd vs. Google lawsuit centred on allegations that Google covertly monitored millions of iPhones through a loophole in Apple's Safari browser. In October 2018, the High Court held that Mr Lloyd could not serve the claim on Google outside of the jurisdiction of England and Wales, but that judgement was reversed by the Court of Appeal in October 2019. Google then appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which it has now won, restoring the original decision.
More details are awaited.

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