A U.K.-based advocacy coalition recently filed a class action lawsuit against U.S. tech giant Google for allegedly stockpiling users’ personal information in an illicit way.
The organization is specifically arguing that Google illegally collected data by circumventing the iPhone’s default privacy settings, according to The Guardian.
Known as Google You Owe Us, the group says that around 5.4 million people in Britain could be owed some form of compensation due to the potentially undue data harvesting. The figure is apparently representative of the amount of iPhone users in the country between June 2011 and February 2012.
“I believe that what Google did was simply against the law. Their actions have affected millions, and we’ll be asking the courts to remedy this major breach of trust,” Richard Lloyd, the leader of the group, told The Guardian. “Through this action, we will send a strong message to Google and other tech giants in Silicon Valley that we’re not afraid to fight back if our laws are broken.” (RELATED: Google, Facebook Are Super Upset They May No Longer Be Able To Sell Your Internet Data Without Permission)
He asserts that the lawsuit is unprecedented.
“In all my years speaking up for consumers, I’ve rarely seen such as massive abuse of trust where so many people have no way to seek redress on their own,” Lloyd continued. “This is … the first case of its kind in the UK against a major tech company for misusing our valuable personal data.”
Google vehemently denies it violated the law or did anything wrong, according to The Guardian. (RELATED: GOP Senate Candidate Is Taking On Google As State Attorney General)
Google, nor Google You Owe Us, responded to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for further details by time of publication.
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