British iPhone users sue Google for collecting data

A group of iPhone users in the United Kingdom have filed a class action lawsuit against Google, alleging that the US company unlawfully collected personal information by circumventing the privacy settings in the Safari browser.

According to Richard Lloyd, the leader of the group called Google You Owe Us, between June 2011 and February 2012, Google bypassed Safari’s default privacy settings, which allowed cookies to be placed on iPhones, even though this option was disabled in the settings. According to the group, 5.4 million British iPhone users were affected at the time, so they may all face compensation if the lawsuit is decided in favor of Google You Owe Us.

In 2012, Google said that no personal information was collected with the cookies. Safari blocks third-party cookies, but allows web services that rely on third-party cookies, such as like buttons. Google took advantage of this for signed-in Google users on Safari who had consented to personalized ads and other content, such as the ability to “+1” things that interested them.

For this purpose, a temporary communication link was set up between the Safari browsers and Google servers, which, according to Google, could also inadvertently place advertising cookies. Google states that these cookies were later deleted and that personal information was never collected with them. In 2012, the American regulator FTC fined Google for this practice of USD 22.5 million.

The British High Court is likely to hear the case in the course of next year. A Google spokesperson told The Guardian that such a case is not new and that the company has defended itself in similar cases in the past. Google does not agree with the group and says it will defend itself in court if necessary.