By Jonathan Stempel
Google failed to persuade a federal judge to dismiss a privacy class action claiming it collected personal data from people’s cellphones after they switched off a button to stop the tracking, paving the way for a possible August trial.
Chief Judge Richard Seeborg of the federal court in San Francisco rejected arguments that the search engine company adequately disclosed how its Web & App Activity settings worked, and that users consented to the tracking.
Google had also argued that its basic record-keeping “doesn’t hurt anyone.”
Users of Android and non-Android mobile devices accused Google of invading their privacy and violating a California law against unauthorized fraudulent computer access by intercepting and saving their personal browsing histories without consent.
In a 20-page decision on Tuesday, Seeborg said reasonable users could view Google’s conduct as “highly offensive,” because the company collected data despite fielding concerns from several employees and
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